The natural reaction of the artist will be strongly towards bringing man back into focus as the center of importance. — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
Forms in art arise from the impact of idea upon material... so that thinking and belief and attitudes may endure as actual… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
It is not the how of painting but the why. To imitate a style would be a little like teaching a tone… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
The artist is likely to be looked upon with some uneasiness by the more conservative members of society. — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
It is the mission of art to remind man from time to time that he is human, and the time is ripe,… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
The values that reside in art are anarchic, they are every man's loves and hates and his momentary divine revelation. — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
Each artist comes to the painting or sculpture because there he can be told that he, the individual, transcends all classes and… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
What is it about conformity itself that causes us all to require it of our neighbors and of our artists and then,… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
It is an intimately communicative affair between the painter and his painting, a conversation back and forth, the painting telling the painter… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
The apprehension of... values is intuitive; but it is not a built-in intuition, not something with which one is born. Intuition in… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
If you're going to be an artist, all life is your subject. And all your experience is part of your art. A… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
To abstract is to draw out the essence of a matter. To abstract in art is to separate certain fundamentals from irrelevant… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
Personal style, be it that of Michelangelo, or that of Tintoretto... has always been that peculiar personal rapport which has developed between… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
The moving toward one's inner self is a long pilgrimage for a painter. It offers many temporary successes and high points, but… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
A work of art rests its merits in traditional qualities. It may constitute a remarkable feat in craftsmanship; it may be a… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
The artist must operate on the assumption that the public consists in the highest order of individual; that he is civilized, cultured,… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
I've been asked often what is the difference between an amateur and a professional artist, and I will tell you. An amateur… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
If one has set for himself the position that his painting shall not misconstrue his personal mode of thinking, then he must… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
All art is based on nonconformity ... Without nonconformity we would have had no Bill of Rights or Magna Carta, no public… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
It may be a point of great pride to have a Van Gogh on the living room wall, but the prospects of… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
An ametuer is an artist who supports himself with outside jobs which enable him to paint. A professional is someone whose wife… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
Art almost always has its ingredient of impudence, its flouting of established authority, so that it may substitute its own authority and… — Ben Shahn Copy Share Image
I became interested in photography when I was sharing a studio with Walker Evans, and found my own sketching was inadequate. — Ben Shahn Copy Share
It is an intimately communicative affair between the painter and his painting, a conversation back and forth, the painting telling the painter even as… — Ben Shahn Copy Share
An amateur is someone who supports himself with outside jobs which enable him to paint. A professional is someone whose wife works to enable… — Ben Shahn Copy Share
Art almost always has its ingredient of impudence, its flouting of established authority, so that it may substitute its own authority and its own… — Ben Shahn Copy Share
The artist is likely to be looked upon with some uneasiness by the more conservative members of society. — Ben Shahn Copy Share
Only an individual can imagine, invent, or create. The whole audience of art is an audience of individuals. — Ben Shahn Copy Share
The natural reaction of the artist will be strongly towards bringing man back into focus as the center of importance. — Ben Shahn Copy Share
Each artist comes to the painting or sculpture because there he can be told that he, the individual, transcends all classes and flouts all… — Ben Shahn Copy Share
I was primarily interested in people, and people in action, so that I did nothing photographically in the sense of doing buildings for their… — Ben Shahn Copy Share
I remember traveling around in Arkansas with Senator Robinson, and I told him what this little trick was. He felt very much part of… — Ben Shahn Copy Share
I became interested in photography when I found my own sketching was inadequate. — Ben Shahn Copy Share
We tried to present the ordinary in an extraordinary manner. But that's the paradox because the only thing extraordinary about it was that it… — Ben Shahn Copy Share
