Every canvas is a journey all its own.
Helen FrankenthalerRead
Art has a will of its own. It has nothing to do with the taste of the moment or what's expected of you. That's a formula for dead art, or fashionable art.
Interpretation
Art exists independently of trends and external expectations, and true creativity arises from genuine expression.
In this quote, Helen Frankenthaler emphasizes the intrinsic value of art, arguing that it should not be confined to current trends or societal expectations. When art is created merely to please or align with what is popular, it loses its vitality and becomes 'dead art.' True artistic expression derives from a deep personal will, standing apart from fleeting fashions and embracing authenticity.
In practice
During a lecture about the importance of authenticity in artistic expression.
Every canvas is a journey all its own.
There are many accidents that are nothing but accidents-and forget it. But there are some that were brought about only because you are the person you are... you have the wherewithal, intelligence, and energy to recognize it and do something with it.
I don't start with a color order, but find the colors as I go.
We would sift through every inch of what it was that worked, or if it didn't, and wonder what was effective in it, in terms of paint, the subject matter, the size, the drawing.
What concerns me when I work, is not whether the picture is a landscape, or whether it's pastoral, or whether somebody will see a sunset in it. What concerns me is - did I make a beautiful picture?
I don't resent being a female painter. I don't exploit it. I paint.
No, there's not much competition between puppeteers in general because everybody's working their own style.
I lost faith in the Oscars the first year I was a movie critic - the year that Bonnie and Clyde didn't win.
I get my best ideas in a thunderstorm. I have the power and majesty of nature on my side.
Even though fixed in time, a photograph evokes as much feeling as that which comes from music or dance. Whatever the mode - from the snapshot to the decisive moment to multi-media montage - the intent and purpose of photography is to render in visual terms feelings and experiences that often elude the ability of words to describe. In any case, the eyes have it, and the imagination will always soar farther than was expected.
I always thought that poetry is the verdict that others give to a certain kind of writing. So to call yourself a poet is a kind of dangerous description. It's for others; it's for others to use.
In any society, the artist has a responsibility. His effectiveness is certainly limited and a painter or writer cannot change the world. But they can keep an essential margin of non-conformity alive. Thanks to them the powerful can never affirm that everyone agrees with their acts. That small difference is important.
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