--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A work of art is something produced by a…" description: "\"A work of art is something produced by a person, but is not that person — it is of her, but is not her. It’s a reach, really — the artist is trying to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/562/george-saunders-317_art_a-work-of-art-is-something-produced-by-a_390224.jpg" --- # A work of art is something produced by a person, but is… ![“A work of art is something produced by a person, but is not that person — it is of her, but is not her. It’s a reach, really — the artist is trying to inhabit, temporarily, a more compact, distilled, efficient, wittier, more true-seeing, precise version of herself — one that she can’t replicate in…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/562/george-saunders-317_art_a-work-of-art-is-something-produced-by-a_390224.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/562/george-saunders-317_art_a-work-of-art-is-something-produced-by-a_390224.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/562/george-saunders-317_art_a-work-of-art-is-something-produced-by-a_390224.jpg) > “A work of art is something produced by a person, but is not that person — it is of her, but is not her. It’s a reach, really — the artist is trying to inhabit, temporarily, a more compact, distilled, efficient, wittier, more true-seeing, precise version of herself — one that she can’t replicate in so-called ‘real’ life, no matter how hard she tries. That’s why she writes: to try and briefly be more than she truly is.” [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art lets creators express a distilled, truer version of themselves beyond ordinary life. **In simple terms:** Art reveals a deeper self. Key Takeaway Use art to explore and express hidden facets. Themes creativity identity expression Mood introspective creative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - painting - writing - performance - design Key Concepts artistic self‑exploration distilled truth temporary embodiment Questions to Reflect On - What part of yourself do you wish to reveal through art? - How does this expression differ from daily life? A Different Perspective Art may idealize self, risking inauthenticity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Precise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precise/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [All the albums that I grew up listening to were produced by one person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/finneas/all-the-albums-that-i-grew-up-listening-to-were-produced-by-one-person/) [Finneas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/finneas/) > [Some of our most powerful works of art have been produced by older Americans-by hands that have engaged in years of hard work, eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/some-of-our-most-powerful-works-of-art-have-been-produced-by-older/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Great works of art can be produced in barbarous societies - in fact the very narrowness of primitive society gives their ornamental art a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/great-works-of-art-can-be-produced-in-barbarous-societies-in-fact-the/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Performance art can be produced in a coffee house setting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-bowman/performance-art-can-be-produced-in-a-coffee-house-setting/) [Jack Bowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-bowman/) > [Art is something greater and higher than our own skill or knowledge or learning. That art is something which, though produced by human hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/art-is-something-greater-and-higher-than-our-own-skill-or-knowledge/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Art, although produced by man's hands, is something not created by hands alone, but something which wells up from a deeper source out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/art-although-produced-by-man-s-hands-is-something-not-created-by/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Great art is never produced for its own sake. It is too difficult to be worth the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/great-art-is-never-produced-for-its-own-sake-it-is-too-difficult-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If modern art has produced symbols that are unfamiliar, that was only to be expected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/if-modern-art-has-produced-symbols-that-are-unfamiliar-that-was-only/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [I always thought that art that is produced somehow has to reflect the zeitgeist or the ambiance and the time and the history in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-always-thought-that-art-that-is-produced-somehow-has-to-reflect-the/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I think art world will have consolidated, I think it will slow down a little bit. 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I'll stick to being an artist. I'm not trying not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roisin-murphy/the-reason-why-i-m-not-a-pop-star-is-i-would-have-hated-it-i-ll-stick/) [Roisin Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roisin-murphy/) ## More by George Saunders > [Success is like a mountain in front of you that keeps growing. If you're not careful, it will take up your whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/success-is-like-a-mountain-in-front-of-you-that-keeps-growing-if-you/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Wow wow wow is all I can say! Remember how I always buy lunchtime Scratch-Off ticket? Have I said? Maybe did not say? Well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/wow-wow-wow-is-all-i-can-say-remember-how-i-always-buy-lunchtime/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“None of it was real; nothing was real. Everything was real; inconceivably real, infinitely dear. 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Think about Frank Sinatra, he says: born to sing. Think about Willie Mays: born to play ball.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/a-clinton-staffer-tells-me-his-theory-think-about-frank-sinatra-he/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-try-we-fail-we-posture-we-aspire-we-pontificate-and-then-we-age/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [What America is, to me, is a guy doesn't want to buy, you let him not buy, you respect his not buying. A guy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/what-america-is-to-me-is-a-guy-doesn-t-want-to-buy-you-let-him-not/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [What good the prophet in the wilderness may do is incremental and personal. It's good for us to hear someone speak the irrational truth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/what-good-the-prophet-in-the-wilderness-may-do-is-incremental-and/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We're in the transition between birth and death. But the one that people often know about is the transition between the moment of death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-re-in-the-transition-between-birth-and-death-but-the-one-that/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [You don't want to be that parent - the one who dresses his kid in a cloth sack when all the other kids are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-don-t-want-to-be-that-parent-the-one-who-dresses-his-kid-in-a/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) [Explore all 690 George Saunders quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## 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": "A work of art is something produced by a person, but is not that person — it is of her, but is not her. 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