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
The painter should not paint what he sees, but what will be seen.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A painter's role is to express vision rather than mere observation, capturing potential rather than reality.
Paul Klee emphasizes that a painter's true task lies not in replicating the physical world as it appears but in envisioning the deeper meanings and feelings that might be evoked through their work. This perspective encourages artists to see potential in their creativity, aiming to convey emotions and thoughts that transcend traditional representation.
Themes
ArtCreativityImaginationExpressionVision
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at an art exhibition, one can highlight this quote to inspire aspiring artists.
More from Paul Klee
All quotes βTo emphasize only the beautiful seems to me to be like a mathematical system that only concerns itself with positive numbers.
Paul KleeRead
You adapt yourself to the contents of the paintbox.
Paul KleeRead
It is a great difficulty and a great necessity to have to start with the smallest.
Paul KleeRead
All art is a memory of age-old things, dark things, whose fragments live on in the artist.
Paul KleeRead
The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the here and now.
Paul KleeRead
Similar quotes
I love the art of acting, so I don't care if I'm in a movie with 10 people, two people, or by myself. I just really enjoy it.
Taraji P. HensonRead
Whenever I get an idea for a song, even before jotting down the notes, I can hear it in the orchestra, I can smell it in the scenery, I can see the kind of actor who will sing it, and I am aware of an audience listening to it.
Richard RodgersRead
To finish is sadness to a writer β a little death. He puts the last word down and it is done. But it isn't really done. The story goes on and leaves the writer behind, for no story is ever done.
John SteinbeckRead
From the reader's view, a poem is more demanding than prose.
Mark StrandRead
I'm not in any rush. I'm not somebody who, if I write a song, I get it out. That's not something I've ever really quite done.
Bruce SpringsteenRead
What I've learned over the years is that the craft of songwriting is trying to take the personal and make it universal - or in the case of telling a story, taking the universal and making it personal.
Neil PeartRead