Everything passes, and what remains of former times, what remains of life, is the spiritual. In everything we do, the claim of the Absolute is unchanging.
Paul KleeRead
To give emphasis only to beauty makes me think of a mathematics that deals with positive numbers only.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that focusing solely on beauty is an incomplete understanding, akin to only considering positive numbers in mathematics.
Paul Klee's quote highlights the importance of a holistic view of art and aesthetics. He uses the analogy of mathematics, where limiting oneself to only positive numbers would yield a partial understanding of the subject. This implies that true appreciation of art involves recognizing complexity and depth, including elements that may not be conventionally beautiful or positive.
In practice
In a discussion about art, I might use this quote to emphasize the importance of seeing beyond surface beauty.
Everything passes, and what remains of former times, what remains of life, is the spiritual. In everything we do, the claim of the Absolute is unchanging.
The painter should not paint what he sees, but what will be seen.
To emphasize only the beautiful seems to me to be like a mathematical system that only concerns itself with positive numbers.
You adapt yourself to the contents of the paintbox.
It is a great difficulty and a great necessity to have to start with the smallest.
All art is a memory of age-old things, dark things, whose fragments live on in the artist.
For years, I've been painting black men as a way to respond to the reality of the streets. I've asked black men to show up in my studio in the clothes that they want to be wearing. And often times, those clothes would be the same trappings people would see on television and find menacing.
Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die.
You see a script, and you say, 'Oh, I can play the heck out of that,' talk to your agent, and he says they don't want to see you. That's heartbreaking.
It's wonderful to play a villain who gets a laugh or to stop a comedy dead in its tracks with a touching moment. It's kind of like a symphony that has very different movements.
We write from aspiration and antagonism, as well as from experience. We paint those qualities which we do not posses.
You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.