--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No erotic work of art is filth if it is…" description: "\"No erotic work of art is filth if it is artistically significant; it is only turned into filth through the beholder if he is filthy.\" — Egon Schiele" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/egon-schiele-31820_art_no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is_270378.jpg" --- # No erotic work of art is filth if it is artistically… ![“No erotic work of art is filth if it is artistically significant; it is only turned into filth through the beholder if he is filthy.” quote by Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/egon-schiele-31820_art_no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is_270378.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/egon-schiele-31820_art_no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is_270378.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/egon-schiele-31820_art_no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is_270378.jpg) > “No erotic work of art is filth if it is artistically significant; it is only turned into filth through the beholder if he is filthy.” [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artistic merit determines value; filth is assigned by a corrupt viewer, not the work itself. **In simple terms:** Art is good unless the viewer is bad. Key Takeaway Judge art by its quality, not personal bias. Themes art morality perception Mood reflective critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - museum curation - gallery displays - private collections Key Concepts aesthetic value subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How do personal biases affect art criticism? - Can art be objectively evaluated? A Different Perspective Even great art can be misinterpreted if cultural norms shift. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Filth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-filth-2644444/) [Art is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Beholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beholder/) [Beholder Filthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beholder-filthy-2644446/) [Erotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/erotic/) [Filth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filth/) [Filth Artistically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filth-artistically-2644443/) [Filth Beholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filth-beholder-2644445/) [Filthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filthy/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Significant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/significant/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [Filth, I'm glad to say, is in the mind of the beholder. When correctly viewed, everything is lewd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lehrer/filth-i-m-glad-to-say-is-in-the-mind-of-the-beholder-when-correctly/) [Tom Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lehrer/) > [“Clouds shed the agony of the sky and rain concludes it by covering us in filth. What do you think about the puddles of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pushpa-rana/clouds-shed-the-agony-of-the-sky-and-rain-concludes-it-by-covering-us/) [Pushpa Rana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pushpa-rana/) > [Men are tied up to their families and possessions more helplessly than in a prison. There is an occasion for the prisoner to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/men-are-tied-up-to-their-families-and-possessions-more-helplessly/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“If it's by an American it's certain to be filth. That's all they write about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/if-it-s-by-an-american-it-s-certain-to-be-filth-that-s-all-they-write/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [If you think I wear the cloak of filth, then let me tell you baby, I wear it real good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diamanda-galas/if-you-think-i-wear-the-cloak-of-filth-then-let-me-tell-you-baby-i/) [Diamanda Galas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diamanda-galas/) > [“It's not a fear that has a name, it's just a dark aura on the world, and it echoes back at Toni with all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-not-a-fear-that-has-a-name-it-s-just-a-dark-aura-on-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If there is a Nobel prize for dirt and filth, India will win it, no doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jairam-ramesh/if-there-is-a-nobel-prize-for-dirt-and-filth-india-will-win-it-no/) [Jairam Ramesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jairam-ramesh/) > [“that would have hidden the decades of filth that had left their stamp upon the wooden floor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-block/that-would-have-hidden-the-decades-of-filth-that-had-left-their-stamp/) [Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) > [Between urine and filth we are born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/between-urine-and-filth-we-are-born/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Now, it is very necessary that we should not flinch from seeing what is vile and debasing. There is filth on the floor, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/now-it-is-very-necessary-that-we-should-not-flinch-from-seeing-what/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [I stopped making movies because I don't like taking my clothes off. Maybe it's realism, but in my opinion, it's utter filth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-reynolds/i-stopped-making-movies-because-i-don-t-like-taking-my-clothes-off/) [Debbie Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-reynolds/) > [If I created a new depravity I would be a priestess, while my imitators would founder, after my reign, in abominable filth...Don't you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachilde/if-i-created-a-new-depravity-i-would-be-a-priestess-while-my/) [Rachilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachilde/) > [ “You \[demagogues\] are like the fishers for eels; in still waters they catch nothing, but if they thoroughly stir up the slime, their fishing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/you-demagogues-are-like-the-fishers-for-eels-in-still-waters-they/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [Television's Mr. Filth: that's me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/television-s-mr-filth-that-s-me/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [Everything is reduced to what's physical in the end, because it's the filth inside people's minds that creates all the evil. What is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/everything-is-reduced-to-what-s-physical-in-the-end-because-it-s-the/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) ## More by Egon Schiele > [I was in love with everything- I wanted to look with love at the angry people so that their eyes would be forced to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/i-was-in-love-with-everything-i-wanted-to-look-with-love-at-the-angry/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [I must live in my own excrement, breathe in my own poisonous sticky fumes. Yet I am a human being! I still am. Does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/i-must-live-in-my-own-excrement-breathe-in-my-own-poisonous-sticky/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [I believe in the immortality of all creatures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/i-believe-in-the-immortality-of-all-creatures/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [I don't know whether there is anyone else at all who remembers my noble father with such sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/i-don-t-know-whether-there-is-anyone-else-at-all-who-remembers-my/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [At present, I am mainly observing the physical motion of mountains, water, trees and flowers. One is everywhere reminded of similar movements in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/at-present-i-am-mainly-observing-the-physical-motion-of-mountains/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [My mother is a very strange woman... She doesn't understand me in the least and doesn't love me much either. If she had either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/my-mother-is-a-very-strange-woman-she-doesn-t-understand-me-in-the/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [All beautiful and noble qualities have been united in me... I shall be the fruit which will leave eternal vitality behind even after its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/all-beautiful-and-noble-qualities-have-been-united-in-me-i-shall-be/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [I do not deny that I have made drawings and watercolors of an erotic nature. But they are always works of art. Are there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/i-do-not-deny-that-i-have-made-drawings-and-watercolors-of-an-erotic/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/art-cannot-be-modern-art-is-primordially-eternal/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [Everything is dead while it lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/everything-is-dead-while-it-lives/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [I shall go so far that people will be seized with terror at the sight of each of my works of 'living' art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/i-shall-go-so-far-that-people-will-be-seized-with-terror-at-the-sight/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [I am so rich that I must give myself away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/i-am-so-rich-that-i-must-give-myself-away/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [To restrict the artist is a crime. It is to murder germinating life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/to-restrict-the-artist-is-a-crime-it-is-to-murder-germinating-life/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [Bodies have their own light which they consume to live: they burn, they are not lit from the outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/bodies-have-their-own-light-which-they-consume-to-live-they-burn-they/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) > [I must see new things and investigate them. I want to taste dark water and see crackling trees and wild winds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/i-must-see-new-things-and-investigate-them-i-want-to-taste-dark-water/) [Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) [Explore all 16 Egon Schiele quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/) ## 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": "No erotic work of art is filth if it is artistically significant; it is only turned into filth through the beholder if he is filthy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Egon Schiele" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is-artistically-significant-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is-artistically-significant-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/egon-schiele-31820_art_no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is_270378.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/egon-schiele-31820_art_no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is_270378.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/936/egon-schiele-31820_art_no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is_270378.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No erotic work of art is filth if it is artistically significant; it is only turned into filth through the…” — Egon Schiele", "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": "Egon Schiele", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No erotic work of art is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is-artistically-significant-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/no-erotic-work-of-art-is-filth-if-it-is-artistically-significant-it/#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 } } ] } ```