What is real for me are the illusions I create with my paintings. Everything else is quicksand.
Eugene DelacroixRead
The source of genius is imagination alone, the refinement of the senses that sees what others do not see, or sees them differently.
Interpretation
Genius stems from the power of imagination and the ability to perceive the world in unique ways.
Eugene Delacroix suggests that true genius is rooted in imagination, allowing individuals to perceive, interpret, and create in ways that transcend conventional perspectives. This heightened sensitivity and unique vision enable geniuses to see possibilities and nuances that others might overlook, ultimately contributing to the realm of art and creativity.
In practice
During an art gallery opening, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of creativity.
What is real for me are the illusions I create with my paintings. Everything else is quicksand.
The outcome of my days is always the same; an infinite desire for what one never gets; a void one cannot fill; an utter yearning to produce in all ways, to battle as much as possible against time that drags us along, and the distractions that throw a veil over our soul.
Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who can't attain it in anything.
A picture is nothing but a bridge between the soul of the artist and that of the spectator.
Experience has two things to teach. The first is that we must correct a great deal and the second, that we must not correct too much.
Glory to that Homer of painting, to that father of warmth and enthusiasm... he really paints men.
Egos are an occupational hazard in acting, but I don't have much of one, and my husband doesn't have much of one, so it's good.
To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
Perhaps the mission of an artist is to interpret beauty to people - the beauty within themselves.
The more I've gotten interested in writing about history and making sense of myself within the continuum of history, the more I've turned to paintings, to art. I look to the imagery of art to help me understand something about my own place in the world.
As it grows ever more complicated today, musical art seeks out combinations more dissonant, stranger, and harsher for the ear. Thus, it comes ever closer to the noise-sound.
Thatβs why an artist must be a warrior and, like all warriors, artists over time acquire modesty and humility. They may, some of them, conduct themselves flamboyantly in public. But alone with the work they are chaste and humble. They know they are not the source of the creations they bring into being. They only facilitate. They carry. They are the willing and skilled instruments of the gods and goddesses they serve.
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