Painting is a faith, and it imposes the duty to disregard public opinion.
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish Painter, Sculptor, Artist
I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
A good painter is to paint two main things, men and the working of man’s mind.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish Painter, Sculptor, Artist
I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject, rather does the person grow to look like his portrait.
—Salvador Dali (1904–89) Spanish Painter
Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects and please or displease only in the memory.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Drawing is speaking to the eye; talking is painting to the ear.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
In old times men used their powers of painting to show the objects of faith, in later times they use the objects of faith to show their powers of painting.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
What a strange vanity painting is; it attracts admiration by resembling the original, we do not admire.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
Sunlight is painting.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–64) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Good painters imitate nature, bad ones spew it up.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
If we could but paint with the hand what we see with the eye.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist