--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art means nothing if it simply decorates…" description: "\"Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage.\" — Adrienne Rich" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/adrienne-rich-803_art_art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates_2231439.png" --- # Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table… ![“Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage.” quote by Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/adrienne-rich-803_art_art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates_2231439.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/adrienne-rich-803_art_art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates_2231439.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/adrienne-rich-803_art_art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates_2231439.png) > “Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage.” [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art loses meaning when it merely decorates and serves those in power. **In simple terms:** Art should challenge, not just please. Key Takeaway Create work that questions authority. Themes art power authenticity Mood critical defiant Type political philosophical When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - public murals - media campaigns Key Concepts political theory aesthetics social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does your art confront power? - What risks are you willing to take? A Different Perspective May be censored or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Dinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dinner/) [Dinner table](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dinner-table/) ## Related quotes > [Character is what someone does, much more than who they are. 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For that choice requires that women shall be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-decision-to-feed-the-world-is-the-real-decision-no-revolution-has/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The necessity of poetry has to be stated over and over, but only to those who have reason to fear its power, or those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-necessity-of-poetry-has-to-be-stated-over-and-over-but-only-to/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think many poets, including myself, write both for the voice and for the page. I certainly write for the person alone in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-many-poets-including-myself-write-both-for-the-voice-and-for/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [If I cling to circumstances I could feel not responsible. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adrienne Rich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates-the-dinner-table-of-power/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates-the-dinner-table-of-power/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/adrienne-rich-803_art_art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates_2231439.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/adrienne-rich-803_art_art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates_2231439.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cea/adrienne-rich-803_art_art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates_2231439.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage.” — Adrienne Rich", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adrienne Rich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art means nothing if it simply...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates-the-dinner-table-of-power/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/art-means-nothing-if-it-simply-decorates-the-dinner-table-of-power/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```