--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Twentieth-century art has allowed me to…" description: "\"Twentieth-century art has allowed me to see things in a cryptic way. I love the butterfly's wings, which disappear when folded and when open leave this..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/emmet-gowin-26838_art_twentieth-century-art-has-allowed-me-to_1688378.png" --- # Twentieth-century art has allowed me to see things in a… ![“Twentieth-century art has allowed me to see things in a cryptic way. I love the butterfly's wings, which disappear when folded and when open leave this brilliant, intense pronouncement of nature, 'Here I am.'” quote by Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/emmet-gowin-26838_art_twentieth-century-art-has-allowed-me-to_1688378.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/emmet-gowin-26838_art_twentieth-century-art-has-allowed-me-to_1688378.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/emmet-gowin-26838_art_twentieth-century-art-has-allowed-me-to_1688378.png) > “Twentieth-century art has allowed me to see things in a cryptic way. I love the butterfly's wings, which disappear when folded and when open leave this brilliant, intense pronouncement of nature, 'Here I am.'” [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The photographer sees the butterfly as a symbol of fleeting beauty that both hides and reveals itself, asserting its presence. **In simple terms:** Butterfly represents hidden brilliance that emerges when observed. Key Takeaway Notice subtle wonders that reveal themselves. Themes beauty transience observation identity nature Mood contemplative inspired Type photographic philosophical When to use this quote - nature photography - mindfulness - creative inspiration - personal growth Key Concepts visual metaphor ephemeral existence Questions to Reflect On - What does the butterfly teach about self‑presentation? - How can we balance hidden depth with visible expression? A Different Perspective Focusing on fleeting moments may distract from lasting values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant/) [Butterfly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly/) [Butterfly wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly-wings/) [Intense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intense/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Twentieth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twentieth-century/) ## Related quotes > [“Now, you and I both know that I’ll wait a lifetime for you – remember, Butterfly Weeds never give up – so take your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-miller/now-you-and-i-both-know-that-i-ll-wait-a-lifetime-for-you-remember/) [Laura Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-miller/) > [If we are ever to love a butterfly..we must first care for a few caterpillars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-we-are-ever-to-love-a-butterfly-we-must-first-care-for-a-few/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Historically, women have either been excluded from the process of creating the definitions of what is considered art or allowed to participate only if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-chicago/historically-women-have-either-been-excluded-from-the-process-of/) [Judy Chicago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-chicago/) > [Art can heal it if art is allowed to exist. And if art is slowly wiped off the face of the planet, then what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/art-can-heal-it-if-art-is-allowed-to-exist-and-if-art-is-slowly-wiped/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [It would be a lowly art that allowed itself to be understood all at once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-would-be-a-lowly-art-that-allowed-itself-to-be-understood-all-at/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“He wanted, in short, a work of art both for what it was in itself and for what it allowed him to bestow on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joris-karl-huysmans/he-wanted-in-short-a-work-of-art-both-for-what-it-was-in-itself-and/) [Joris-Karl Huysmans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joris-karl-huysmans/) > [I am pessimistic about a picture's power to be the emissary of just one thing. What I hope is that the picture says, "Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/i-am-pessimistic-about-a-picture-s-power-to-be-the-emissary-of-just/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [He is a male butterfly without the wings - the same kind of grace of a very young horse, so angular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-baryshnikov/he-is-a-male-butterfly-without-the-wings-the-same-kind-of-grace-of-a/) [Mikhail Baryshnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/) > [Fractal litigation, whereby the flapping of a butterfly’s wings on one side of the world resulted in a massive compensation claim on the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/fractal-litigation-whereby-the-flapping-of-a-butterfly-s-wings-on-one/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) > [“Yes, every evening. Your mother enjoyed it. That evening she chose Inkheart. She always did like tales of adventure – stories full of brightness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/yes-every-evening-your-mother-enjoyed-it-that-evening-she-chose/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“There was this time when I looked at a picture and thought it was a man with horns, but when I stepped up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/there-was-this-time-when-i-looked-at-a-picture-and-thought-it-was-a/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [“I know you are afraid, mon amour, " he whispered softly, his hands sliding up her rib cage to her breasts. "But I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/i-know-you-are-afraid-mon-amour-he-whispered-softly-his-hands-sliding/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [The air is like a butterfly With frail blue wings. The happy earth looks at the sky And sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-kilmer/the-air-is-like-a-butterfly-with-frail-blue-wings-the-happy-earth/) [Joyce Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-kilmer/) > [When, within our souls and psyches we are made aware of a safe but insistent drum beat, repeated like butterfly wings in motion, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-meeker/when-within-our-souls-and-psyches-we-are-made-aware-of-a-safe-but/) [Mary Meeker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-meeker/) > [“Story is a butterfly whose wings transport us to another world where we receive gifts that change who we are and who we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/story-is-a-butterfly-whose-wings-transport-us-to-another-world-where/) [Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/) ## More by Emmet Gowin > [I was going round the world searching for an interesting place, when I realized that the place that I was in was already interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/i-was-going-round-the-world-searching-for-an-interesting-place-when-i/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [The challenge of photography is to show the thing photographed so that our feelings are awakened and hidden aspects are revealed to us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/the-challenge-of-photography-is-to-show-the-thing-photographed-so/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [I want my photographs to say: "Look-there's this thing you haven't seen that you should see."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/i-want-my-photographs-to-say-look-there-s-this-thing-you-haven-t-seen/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [Photography is such an important instrument in the education of our feelings and perception because of its duality. Photography represents the world we know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/photography-is-such-an-important-instrument-in-the-education-of-our/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [What's great is that the picture is already taken before it goes public. It's in secret. The trust that develops from such a habit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/what-s-great-is-that-the-picture-is-already-taken-before-it-goes/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [As a good picture would come, I would never know exactly what I had done. When you did see it, it would strike you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/as-a-good-picture-would-come-i-would-never-know-exactly-what-i-had/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [You’re always working at the margin of what you don’t understand, that’s the only exhilarating place to be. To just illustrate what you already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/you-re-always-working-at-the-margin-of-what-you-don-t-understand-that/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [I made 10 times as many images as the other students," he says of the early years. "I destroyed all those negatives except a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/i-made-10-times-as-many-images-as-the-other-students-he-says-of-the/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [This is the gift of the landscape photograph, that the heart finds a place to stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/this-is-the-gift-of-the-landscape-photograph-that-the-heart-finds-a/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [For me, pictures provide a means of holding, intensely, a moment of communication between one human and another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/for-me-pictures-provide-a-means-of-holding-intensely-a-moment-of/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [We tremble at the feelings we experience as our sense of wholeness is reorganized by what we see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/we-tremble-at-the-feelings-we-experience-as-our-sense-of-wholeness-is/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [I feel that whatever picture an artist makes it is in part a picture of himself - a matter of identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/i-feel-that-whatever-picture-an-artist-makes-it-is-in-part-a-picture/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [It might take us a lifetime to find out what it is we need to say. Most of us fall into where our feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/it-might-take-us-a-lifetime-to-find-out-what-it-is-we-need-to-say/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [I need to say to you. There are things in your life that only you will see, stories that only you will hear. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/i-need-to-say-to-you-there-are-things-in-your-life-that-only-you-will/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) > [The picture is like a prayer, an offering, and hopefully an opening through which to seek what we don't know, or already know and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmet-gowin/the-picture-is-like-a-prayer-an-offering-and-hopefully-an-opening/) [Emmet Gowin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) [Explore all 21 Emmet Gowin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmet-gowin/) ## 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 > [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": "Twentieth-century art has allowed me to see things in a cryptic way. 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