--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art solves nothing, either for the artist…" description: "\"Art solves nothing, either for the artist himself or for those who receive his art.\" — Clement Greenberg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/clement-greenberg-16776_art_art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist_1761819.jpg" --- # Art solves nothing, either for the artist himself or for… ![“Art solves nothing, either for the artist himself or for those who receive his art.” quote by Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/clement-greenberg-16776_art_art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist_1761819.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/clement-greenberg-16776_art_art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist_1761819.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/clement-greenberg-16776_art_art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist_1761819.jpg) > “Art solves nothing, either for the artist himself or for those who receive his art.” [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art does not solve problems for anyone; its value is aesthetic, not practical. **In simple terms:** Art is not a solution. Key Takeaway Appreciate art for its own sake. Themes art philosophy purpose creativity meaning Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - museum curation - art education - personal reflection - public installations Key Concepts aesthetic theory existentialism cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - Can art influence thought without solving? - What is art’s role in society? A Different Perspective Art can inspire change indirectly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Solves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-solves-1699241/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Receive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-receive-1699244/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Receive Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/receive-art-1699243/) [Solve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solve/) [Solves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solves-458691/) [Solves Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solves-artist-1699242/) ## Related quotes > [The child and the great artist -- these alone receive the sensation fresh as it was at the beginning of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-child-and-the-great-artist-these-alone-receive-the-sensation/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The way in which a group of people solves problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geert-hofstede/the-way-in-which-a-group-of-people-solves-problems/) [Geert Hofstede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geert-hofstede/) > [Growth solves (nearly) all problems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-altman/growth-solves-nearly-all-problems/) [Sam Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-altman/) > [“Hostility and violence doesn't solve anything. It solves everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricker/hostility-and-violence-doesn-t-solve-anything-it-solves-everything/) [David Ricker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricker/) > [Science never solves a problem without creating ten more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/science-never-solves-a-problem-without-creating-ten-more/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Creativity is admired only if it solves the problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/creativity-is-admired-only-if-it-solves-the-problem/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [She always has close calls when she solves a mystery!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-keene/she-always-has-close-calls-when-she-solves-a-mystery/) [Carolyn Keene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-keene/) > [“The primary question about life after death is not whether it is a fact, but even if it is, what problems that really solves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/the-primary-question-about-life-after-death-is-not-whether-it-is-a/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Being angry never solves anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-angry-never-solves-anything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [and getting dressed we talk about what else there might be to do, but being together solves most of it, in fact, solves all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/and-getting-dressed-we-talk-about-what-else-there-might-be-to-do-but/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Violence solves what tolerance does not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-yong/violence-solves-what-tolerance-does-not/) [Jeremy Yong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-yong/) > [As time goes on you'll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn't, doesn't. Time solves most things and what most time can't solve, you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/as-time-goes-on-you-ll-understand-what-lasts-lasts-what-doesn-t-doesn/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Problem of solving a problem is not a problem, but when a problem solves a problem without any problem then the problem is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/problem-of-solving-a-problem-is-not-a-problem-but-when-a-problem/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [“Wisdom solves almost anything”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/wisdom-solves-almost-anything/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [They all said I was a very young guy. Well there is nothing I can do about that but with each day that passes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-osborne/they-all-said-i-was-a-very-young-guy-well-there-is-nothing-i-can-do/) [George Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-osborne/) ## More by Clement Greenberg > [The avant-garde poet or artist tries in effect to imitate God by creating something valid solely on its own terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-avant-garde-poet-or-artist-tries-in-effect-to-imitate-god-by/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [The peasant finds no "natural" urgency within himself that will drive him toward Picasso in spite of all difficulties. In the end the peasant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-peasant-finds-no-natural-urgency-within-himself-that-will-drive/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [The paradox in the evolution of French painting from Courbet to Cezanne is how it was brought to the verge of abstraction in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-paradox-in-the-evolution-of-french-painting-from-courbet-to/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [It has become apparent that art can have a startling impact without really being or saying anything startling — or new. The character itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/it-has-become-apparent-that-art-can-have-a-startling-impact-without/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [Art is a matter strictly of experience, not of principles and what counts first and last in art is quality, all other things are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/art-is-a-matter-strictly-of-experience-not-of-principles-and-what/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [Photography is the most transparent of the art mediums devised or discovered by man. It is probably for this reason that it proves so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/photography-is-the-most-transparent-of-the-art-mediums-devised-or/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [Where Picasso paints cause, Repin paints effect. Repin predigests art for the spectator and provides a short cut to the pleasure of art that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/where-picasso-paints-cause-repin-paints-effect-repin-predigests-art/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [For every good art critic there may be ten great artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/for-every-good-art-critic-there-may-be-ten-great-artists/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [The superior artist is the one who knows how to be influenced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-superior-artist-is-the-one-who-knows-how-to-be-influenced/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [A large picture can give us images of things, but a relatively small one can best re-create the instantaneous unity of nature as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/a-large-picture-can-give-us-images-of-things-but-a-relatively-small/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [The reality of art is disclosed only in experience, not in reflection upon experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-reality-of-art-is-disclosed-only-in-experience-not-in-reflection/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [You like it, that's all, whether it's a landscape or abstract. You like it. It hits you. You don't have to read it. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/you-like-it-that-s-all-whether-it-s-a-landscape-or-abstract-you-like/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [Once efficiency is universally accepted as a rule, it becomes an inner compulsion and weighs like a sense of sin, simply because no one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/once-efficiency-is-universally-accepted-as-a-rule-it-becomes-an-inner/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [Nothing could be further from the authentic art of our time than the idea of a rupture of continuity. Art is - among other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/nothing-could-be-further-from-the-authentic-art-of-our-time-than-the/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [The dissolution of the pictorial into sheer texture, into apparently sheer sensation, into an accumulation of repetitions, seems to speak for and answer something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-dissolution-of-the-pictorial-into-sheer-texture-into-apparently/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) [Explore all 39 Clement Greenberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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 solves nothing, either for the artist himself or for those who receive his art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clement Greenberg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist-himself-or-for-those-who/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist-himself-or-for-those-who/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/clement-greenberg-16776_art_art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist_1761819.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/clement-greenberg-16776_art_art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist_1761819.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/clement-greenberg-16776_art_art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist_1761819.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art solves nothing, either for the artist himself or for those who receive his art.” — Clement Greenberg", "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": "Clement Greenberg", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art solves nothing, either for the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist-himself-or-for-those-who/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/art-solves-nothing-either-for-the-artist-himself-or-for-those-who/#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 } } ] } ```