--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is an artist? A provincial who finds…" description: "\"What is an artist? A provincial who finds himself somewhere between a physical reality and a metaphysical one... It’s this in-between that I’m calling ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9d/federico-fellini-4845_art_what-is-an-artist-a-provincial-who-finds_1534948.jpg" --- # What is an artist? A provincial who finds himself… ![“What is an artist? A provincial who finds himself somewhere between a physical reality and a metaphysical one... It’s this in-between that I’m calling a province, this frontier country between the tangible world and the intangible one - which is really the realm of the artist.” quote by Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9d/federico-fellini-4845_art_what-is-an-artist-a-provincial-who-finds_1534948.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9d/federico-fellini-4845_art_what-is-an-artist-a-provincial-who-finds_1534948.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9d/federico-fellini-4845_art_what-is-an-artist-a-provincial-who-finds_1534948.jpg) > “What is an artist? A provincial who finds himself somewhere between a physical reality and a metaphysical one... It’s this in-between that I’m calling a province, this frontier country between the tangible world and the intangible one - which is really the realm of the artist.” [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The artist exists between tangible reality and intangible imagination, a frontier province of creative expression **In simple terms:** Art lives in the space between the real and the imagined Key Takeaway Embrace the in‑between of perception and imagination Themes creativity duality artistic identity Mood inspired introspective Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - visual arts - writing - design - innovation Key Concepts metaphysics perception creative process Questions to Reflect On - How does this duality shape artistic work? - Can art bridge tangible and intangible? A Different Perspective Focusing only on one side may limit artistic depth ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Frontiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frontiers/) [Metaphysical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphysical/) [Provincial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/provincial/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Realms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realms/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [An artist is a provincial who finds himself somewhere between a physical reality and a metaphysical one. It’s this in-between that I’m calling a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/an-artist-is-a-provincial-who-finds-himself-somewhere-between-a/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [We lived in the provincial town of Ramat Gan where I spent most of my youth adjacent to the chess board.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnon-goldfinger/we-lived-in-the-provincial-town-of-ramat-gan-where-i-spent-most-of-my/) [Arnon Goldfinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnon-goldfinger/) > [On every album I've put out, I've put diverse Canadian songs on it. They're not provincial album; my albums are national albums. There'll be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stompin-tom-connors/on-every-album-i-ve-put-out-i-ve-put-diverse-canadian-songs-on-it/) [Stompin' Tom Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stompin-tom-connors/) > [“Being bigheaded can be as irritating and as dangerous as being small-minded.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/being-bigheaded-can-be-as-irritating-and-as-dangerous-as-being-small/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The country is provincial; it becomes ridiculous when it tries to ape Paris.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/the-country-is-provincial-it-becomes-ridiculous-when-it-tries-to-ape/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [My new play 'Chinglish,' which will go to Broadway, is about a white American businessman who goes to a provincial capital in China, hoping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-henry-hwang/my-new-play-chinglish-which-will-go-to-broadway-is-about-a-white/) [David Henry Hwang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-henry-hwang/) > [I've noticed that my resolutions involve me not doing stuff that I wasn't going to do anyway so here's something more positive. I'm going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-smith/i-ve-noticed-that-my-resolutions-involve-me-not-doing-stuff-that-i/) [Arthur Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-smith/) > [When my party won the elections convincingly on February 18th, 2008, we immediately reached out to other parties to form broad-based coalitions of national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asif-ali-zardari/when-my-party-won-the-elections-convincingly-on-february-18th-2008-we/) [Asif Ali Zardari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asif-ali-zardari/) > [My youngest brother and I went on a ten-day canoe trip in Bowron Provincial Park in British Columbia years ago. Believe it or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hobbs/my-youngest-brother-and-i-went-on-a-ten-day-canoe-trip-in-bowron/) [Will Hobbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hobbs/) > [A lot of the novels I admire are 'admirably provincial.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvyn-bragg/a-lot-of-the-novels-i-admire-are-admirably-provincial/) [Melvyn Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvyn-bragg/) > [It's nearly impossible to believe just how provincial the wine world was in 1978, the year I launched my journal, 'The Wine Advocate.' There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-parker-jr/it-s-nearly-impossible-to-believe-just-how-provincial-the-wine-world/) [Robert M. Parker, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-parker-jr/) > [When I was young, I despised old people. I was provincial and narrow-minded. It's the reason I stayed stupid so long. If you only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/when-i-was-young-i-despised-old-people-i-was-provincial-and-narrow/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [New York is very provincial. They're very cut-off; they don't have an awareness of so much that is going on in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson/new-york-is-very-provincial-they-re-very-cut-off-they-don-t-have-an/) [Robert Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson/) > [The greatest writers have been, at heart, parochial, provincial in their rootedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-greatest-writers-have-been-at-heart-parochial-provincial-in-their/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [I'm a child of provincial France.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-macron/i-m-a-child-of-provincial-france/) [Emmanuel Macron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-macron/) ## More by Federico Fellini > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [Even if I set out to make a film about a fillet of sole, it would be about me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/even-if-i-set-out-to-make-a-film-about-a-fillet-of-sole-it-would-be/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/when-work-commitment-and-pleasure-all-become-one-and-you-reach-that/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [As a writer and director, I want to know what is behind the good manners and soft voice. Who is inside the silhouette?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/as-a-writer-and-director-i-want-to-know-what-is-behind-the-good/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [Don't forget that costumes, like dreams, are symbolic communication. Dreams teach us that a language for everything exists - for every object, every color…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/don-t-forget-that-costumes-like-dreams-are-symbolic-communication/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [It is only when I am doing my work that I feel truly alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/it-is-only-when-i-am-doing-my-work-that-i-feel-truly-alive/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [We must get beyond passions, like a great work of art. In such miraculous harmony. We should learn to love each other so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/we-must-get-beyond-passions-like-a-great-work-of-art-in-such/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [We can all pretend to be cynical and scheming, but when we’re faced with purity and innocence, the cynical mask drops off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/we-can-all-pretend-to-be-cynical-and-scheming-but-when-we-re-faced/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [The public has lost the habit of movie-going because the cinema no longer possesses the charm, the hypnotic charisma, the authority it once commanded.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/the-public-has-lost-the-habit-of-movie-going-because-the-cinema-no/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [Everyone knows that time is Death, that Death hides in clocks. Imposing another time powered by the Clock of the Imagination, however, can refuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/everyone-knows-that-time-is-death-that-death-hides-in-clocks-imposing/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [Our duty as storytellers is to bring people to the station. There each person will choose his or her own train...But we must at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/our-duty-as-storytellers-is-to-bring-people-to-the-station-there-each/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [What's important is the way we say it. Art is all about craftsmanship. Others can interpret craftsmanship as style if they wish. Style is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/what-s-important-is-the-way-we-say-it-art-is-all-about-craftsmanship/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/there-is-no-end-there-is-no-beginning-there-is-only-the-passion-of/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [My work has always been the thing that justifies my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/my-work-has-always-been-the-thing-that-justifies-my-life/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [My relationship with my body has changed. I used to consider it as a servant who should obey, function, give pleasure. In sickness, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/my-relationship-with-my-body-has-changed-i-used-to-consider-it-as-a/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) [Explore all 104 Federico Fellini quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) ## 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. 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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. 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