--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All great contemporary artists, schooled…" description: "\"All great contemporary artists, schooled or not, are essentially self-taught and are de-skilling like crazy. I don't look for skill in art...Skill has ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/jerry-saltz-1712_art_all-great-contemporary-artists-schooled_2751784.png" --- # All great contemporary artists, schooled or not, are… ![“All great contemporary artists, schooled or not, are essentially self-taught and are de-skilling like crazy. I don't look for skill in art...Skill has nothing to do with technical proficiency... I'm interested in people who rethink skill, who redefine or reimagine it: an engineer, say, who builds…” quote by Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/jerry-saltz-1712_art_all-great-contemporary-artists-schooled_2751784.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/jerry-saltz-1712_art_all-great-contemporary-artists-schooled_2751784.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce4/jerry-saltz-1712_art_all-great-contemporary-artists-schooled_2751784.png) > “All great contemporary artists, schooled or not, are essentially self-taught and are de-skilling like crazy. I don't look for skill in art...Skill has nothing to do with technical proficiency... I'm interested in people who rethink skill, who redefine or reimagine it: an engineer, say, who builds rockets from rocks.” [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art education is shifting; self‑taught creators challenge traditional skill hierarchies, redefining expertise. **In simple terms:** Self‑taught artists reshape what skill means. Key Takeaway Value creativity over formal training. Themes creativity skill education innovation Mood critical inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - art schools - studio practice - tech entrepreneurship - DIY projects Key Concepts self‑teaching redefinition de‑skilling Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions support unconventional learning? - What defines true expertise today? A Different Perspective Traditional skill metrics may overlook depth of insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Skill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-skill-646435/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artists Schooled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists-schooled-3104910/) [Contemporary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary/) [Contemporary art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary-art/) [Crazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crazy/) [Engineers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineers/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Proficiency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proficiency/) [Rethink Skill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rethink-skill-3104911/) [Rockets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rockets/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Schooled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schooled/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-taught/) [Skill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skill/) [Skill Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skill-art-2237404/) [Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills/) [Taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught/) ## Related quotes > [All great contemporary artists, schooled or not, are essentially self-taught and are de-skilling like crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/all-great-contemporary-artists-schooled-or-not-are-essentially-self/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [To any man who has slaved to acquire skill in his art, it is most irritating to have his ability referred to as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-loomis/to-any-man-who-has-slaved-to-acquire-skill-in-his-art-it-is-most/) [Andrew Loomis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-loomis/) > [“They overlook the possibility that brainstorming can be a skill, an art, more like playing the piano than tying your shoes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-kelley/they-overlook-the-possibility-that-brainstorming-can-be-a-skill-an/) [Thomas Kelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-kelley/) > [Art is skill, that is the first meaning of the word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/art-is-skill-that-is-the-first-meaning-of-the-word/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Challenge your work, your art, your skill...Never get too comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/challenge-your-work-your-art-your-skill-never-get-too-comfortable/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think most people agree there is a component of skill in art making; you have to learn grammar before you learn how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/i-think-most-people-agree-there-is-a-component-of-skill-in-art-making/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [I love to watch people dance. It is the most fantastic skill and art form that anybody can have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tabu/i-love-to-watch-people-dance-it-is-the-most-fantastic-skill-and-art/) [Tabu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tabu/) > [There are many prejudices about art, and first among them is that it is a skill and that there are definite rules.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolf-kahn/there-are-many-prejudices-about-art-and-first-among-them-is-that-it/) [Wolf Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolf-kahn/) > [No skill or art is needed to grow old; the trick is to endure it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/no-skill-or-art-is-needed-to-grow-old-the-trick-is-to-endure-it/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Drawing need not be the bones of art, but skill must always be the skeleton of accomplishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/drawing-need-not-be-the-bones-of-art-but-skill-must-always-be-the/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Enjoyment is an art and a skill for which we have little talent or energy... your entire education has has deprived you of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/enjoyment-is-an-art-and-a-skill-for-which-we-have-little-talent-or/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Without love there is no art. When the artist is playing beautifully there is no 'me; there is love and beauty, and this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/without-love-there-is-no-art-when-the-artist-is-playing-beautifully/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“Practice transforms a skill into an art”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddharth-joshi/practice-transforms-a-skill-into-an-art/) [Siddharth Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddharth-joshi/) > [Sometimes, as in an athletic event where everything clicks, inexplicable things do happen. Learning and practicing an art or a skill has always been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/sometimes-as-in-an-athletic-event-where-everything-clicks/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [Both individual skill (art) and chance are important factors in determining success or failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/both-individual-skill-art-and-chance-are-important-factors-in/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) ## More by Jerry Saltz > [One argument goes that recessions are good for female artists because when money flies out the window, women are allowed in the house. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/one-argument-goes-that-recessions-are-good-for-female-artists-because/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [Kinkade estimated that one of his paintings hung in every twenty homes in America. Yet the art world unanimously ignores or reviles him. Me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/kinkade-estimated-that-one-of-his-paintings-hung-in-every-twenty/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [The German ueber-photographer Andreas Gursky was the perfect pre-9/11 artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/the-german-ueber-photographer-andreas-gursky-was-the-perfect-pre-9-11/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [The debut show, “Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary,” is supposed to be about how artists reuse humble or unusual materials. There’s good work here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/the-debut-show-second-lives-remixing-the-ordinary-is-supposed-to-be/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [While the space for artists and curators has increased enormously, maybe, just maybe, that's left room for too many people calling themselves artists and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/while-the-space-for-artists-and-curators-has-increased-enormously/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [Those who love him love that he sells the most art; they take it as a point of faith that this proves Kinkade is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/those-who-love-him-love-that-he-sells-the-most-art-they-take-it-as-a/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > ['Untitled' is a time machine that can transport you to 1992, an edgy moment when the art world was crumbling, money was scarce, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/untitled-is-a-time-machine-that-can-transport-you-to-1992-an-edgy/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [I love art dealers. In some ways, they're my favorite people in the art world. Really. I love that they put their money where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/i-love-art-dealers-in-some-ways-they-re-my-favorite-people-in-the-art/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [My nominee for Best Picture of the year - maybe the best picture ever, because it's essentially made up of and is an ecstatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/my-nominee-for-best-picture-of-the-year-maybe-the-best-picture-ever/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [Many things happened in the sixties, but the period is no more significant, better, or more 'political' than today. It's time to turn the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/many-things-happened-in-the-sixties-but-the-period-is-no-more/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [When people in stadiums do the Wave, it's the group-mind collective organism spontaneously organizing itself to express an emotion, pass time, and reflect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/when-people-in-stadiums-do-the-wave-it-s-the-group-mind-collective/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [Few contemporary artists mined the space between the ordinary and the strange better than Orozco did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/few-contemporary-artists-mined-the-space-between-the-ordinary-and-the/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [The giant white cube is now impeding rather than enhancing the rhythms of art. It preprograms a viewer's journey, shifts the emphasis from process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/the-giant-white-cube-is-now-impeding-rather-than-enhancing-the/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [Art schools are partly the villain here. (Never mind that I teach in them.) This generation of artists is the first to have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/art-schools-are-partly-the-villain-here-never-mind-that-i-teach-in/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [There's one Baldessari work I genuinely love and would like to own, maybe because of my Midwestern roots and love of driving alone. 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/there-s-one-baldessari-work-i-genuinely-love-and-would-like-to-own/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) [Explore all 213 Jerry Saltz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) ## 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. 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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": "All great contemporary artists, schooled or not, are essentially self-taught and are de-skilling like crazy. 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