Arshile Gorky Quotes

I do not paint in front of but from within nature.

I communicate my innermost perceptions through art.

The stuff of thought is the seed of the artist. Dreams form the bristles of the artist's brush. As the eye functions as the brain's sentry, I communicate my innermost perceptions through the art, my worldview.

Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot see physically with his eyes.

Drawing is the basis of art. A bad painter cannot draw. But one who draws well can always paint.

When something is finished, that means it's dead, doesn't it? I believe in everlastingness. I never finish a painting - I just stop working on it for a while.

The eyes of the Armenians speak long before the lips move and long after they cease to.

The secret is to throw yourself into the water of life again and again, not to hang back, no reservations, risk everything, but above all strike out boldly with all you have.

Art must always remain earnest... Art must be serious, no sarcasm, comedy. One does not laugh at a loved one.

Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes... Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an explosion into unknown areas.

We are part of the world creation, and we ourselves create nothing. Our knowledge allows us to make use of all the forces already in existence, our art to interpret emotions already felt. One big war, an epidemic, and we collapse into ignorance and darkness, fit sons of chimpanzees.

Dreams form the bristles of the artist's brush.