It was my father's hope, and it is ours, that the National Gallery would become not a static but a living institution, growing in usefulness and importance to artists, scholars and the general public.
Paul MellonRead
Just as there is no substitute for original works of art, there is no substitute for the world of direct sensual experience.
Interpretation
Original art and direct experiences are irreplaceable.
This quote emphasizes the value of authenticity in both art and personal experiences. Just as original artworks cannot be replicated in their essence, the sensory experiences we have in the world are unique and cannot be substituted by anything else, underscoring the importance of engaging with life directly.
In practice
This quote can inspire artists to pursue original expression in their work.
It was my father's hope, and it is ours, that the National Gallery would become not a static but a living institution, growing in usefulness and importance to artists, scholars and the general public.
There are so many different narrative traditions across the world, and each of those traditions has evolved dramatically over time. Once I understood that, I felt truly free; I could write and invent the way I wanted to because there never has been only one way to tell a good story.
The secret is not to write about what you love best, but about what you, alone, love at all.
Things men have made with wakened hands, and put soft life into are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing for long years. And for this reason, some old things are lovely warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them.
I believe that in the history of art and of thought there has always been at every living moment of culture a will to renewal. This is not the prerogative of the last decade only. All history is nothing but a succession of crises - of rupture, repudiation and resistance. When there is no crisis, there is stagnation, petrifaction and death. All thought, all art is aggressive.
You adapt yourself to the contents of the paintbox.
Often, particularly towards the end of the process, I think of myself less as a theatre director and more as someone who just directs the traffic. My job is to move the ideas and bits of the show into the places where they work best. Sometimes my job is also to say, 'No.'
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