--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not an aesthetic misstep to make…" description: "\"It is not an aesthetic misstep to make the viewer aware of the paint and the painter's hand. Such an empathetic awareness lies at the heart of aestheti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/john-updike-396_aesthetic_it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-t_1230553.jpg" --- # It is not an aesthetic misstep to make the viewer aware of… ![“It is not an aesthetic misstep to make the viewer aware of the paint and the painter's hand. Such an empathetic awareness lies at the heart of aesthetic appreciation.” quote by John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/john-updike-396_aesthetic_it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-t_1230553.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/john-updike-396_aesthetic_it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-t_1230553.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/john-updike-396_aesthetic_it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-t_1230553.jpg) > “It is not an aesthetic misstep to make the viewer aware of the paint and the painter's hand. Such an empathetic awareness lies at the heart of aesthetic appreciation.” [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing the artist’s hand and process deepens our connection to the artwork, making appreciation more empathetic. **In simple terms:** Seeing the artist’s technique enriches enjoyment. Key Takeaway Notice the creator’s touch. Themes aesthetics empathy art appreciation Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery visits - art classes - personal art creation - museum tours Key Concepts artist intent viewer perception creative process Questions to Reflect On - How does awareness of technique change your feeling about a piece? - Can you appreciate art without knowing the process? A Different Perspective Some may argue focus on technique distracts from emotional impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) [Appreciation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appreciation/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) ## Related quotes > [“I didn't respond to him. Couldn't speak at all. Couldn't look at his self-mutilation--not even the clean, bandaged version of it. Instead, I looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/i-didn-t-respond-to-him-couldn-t-speak-at-all-couldn-t-look-at-his/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [A painter's hand has a thirst for thieving, it steals from heaven and makes a gift to the memories of men, it feigns eternity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/a-painter-s-hand-has-a-thirst-for-thieving-it-steals-from-heaven-and/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [In a really good, closely matched situation, the style of the boxer is every bit as explicit and specific to him as a painter's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/in-a-really-good-closely-matched-situation-the-style-of-the-boxer-is/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [We all appreciated a certain aesthetic, and with that appreciation came a certain stylized presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-heard/we-all-appreciated-a-certain-aesthetic-and-with-that-appreciation/) [Amber Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-heard/) > [Except for the American woman, nothing interests the eye of the American man more than an automobile, or seems so important to him as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-hamilton-barr/except-for-the-american-woman-nothing-interests-the-eye-of-the/) Alfred Hamilton Barr > [“ Jeremy Bentham startled the world many years ago by stating in effect that if the amount of pleasure obtained from each be equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/jeremy-bentham-startled-the-world-many-years-ago-by-stating-in-effect/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [To so enter into it in nature and art that the enjoyed meanings of life may become a part of living is the attitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-so-enter-into-it-in-nature-and-art-that-the-enjoyed-meanings-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A game may be as integral to a culture, as true an object of human aesthetic appreciation, as admirable a product of creativity as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dummett/a-game-may-be-as-integral-to-a-culture-as-true-an-object-of-human/) Michael Dummett > [“Arguments for preservation based on the beauty of wilderness are sometimes treated as if they were of little weight because they are "merely aesthetic".…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/arguments-for-preservation-based-on-the-beauty-of-wilderness-are/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [“The goal of all principled people is to recognize truth. Simple or complex thoughts and feelings standing alone rarely express any universal truths. Thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-goal-of-all-principled-people-is-to-recognize-truth-simple-or/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [It's the viewer that makes the work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/it-s-the-viewer-that-makes-the-work/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I love Vines. You make this 6.4-second drama, and you can reach 6 million viewer, and make people laugh. I find it so fabulous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-love-vines-you-make-this-6-4-second-drama-and-you-can-reach-6/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [My aim is to make the viewer become aware of his or her responsibility in what he or she is looking at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marc-bustamante/my-aim-is-to-make-the-viewer-become-aware-of-his-or-her/) Jean-Marc Bustamante > [I have enjoyed 'Luther' as a viewer, and it is a fantastic setup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esha-deol/i-have-enjoyed-luther-as-a-viewer-and-it-is-a-fantastic-setup/) [Esha Deol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esha-deol/) > [I want the paintings to take me or the viewer out somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-schnabel/i-want-the-paintings-to-take-me-or-the-viewer-out-somewhere-else/) [Julian Schnabel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-schnabel/) ## More by John Updike > [Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/life-is-a-roller-coaster-you-have-your-ups-and-downs-unless-you-fall/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The New England spirit does not seek solutions in a crowd; raw light and solitariness are less dreaded than welcomed as enhancers of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-new-england-spirit-does-not-seek-solutions-in-a-crowd-raw-light/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I imagine most of that stuff on the information highway is roadkill anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-imagine-most-of-that-stuff-on-the-information-highway-is-roadkill/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Families, doing everything for each other out of imagined obligation and always getting in each other's way, what a tangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/families-doing-everything-for-each-other-out-of-imagined-obligation/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The fucking world is running out of gas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-fucking-world-is-running-out-of-gas/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The theme of old age doesn't seem to fascinate Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-theme-of-old-age-doesn-t-seem-to-fascinate-hollywood/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The mind cannot fall asleep as long as it watches itself. Only when the mind moves unwatched and becomes absorbed in images that tug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-mind-cannot-fall-asleep-as-long-as-it-watches-itself-only-when/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“it was somehow wonderful of her to be, in every detail, herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-was-somehow-wonderful-of-her-to-be-in-every-detail-herself/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-realer-to-us-than-any-named/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Her hair had been going gray as long as he could remember; she bundled it behind in a bun held with hairpins that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/her-hair-had-been-going-gray-as-long-as-he-could-remember-she-bundled/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Possession diminishes perception of value, immediately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/possession-diminishes-perception-of-value-immediately/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I can't bear to finish things, beyond a certain point they get heavy. There's something so dead about a finished painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-can-t-bear-to-finish-things-beyond-a-certain-point-they-get-heavy/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Some people find fall depressing, others hate spring. I've always been a spring person myself. All that growth, you can feel Nature groaning, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/some-people-find-fall-depressing-others-hate-spring-i-ve-always-been/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Explore all 592 John Updike quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## More Aesthetic quotes > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Beauty in the European sense has always had a premeditated quality to it. We've always had an aesthetic intention and a long-range plan. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/beauty-in-the-european-sense-has-always-had-a-premeditated-quality-to/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [I don't think I was ever thinking critically about my aesthetic, I think it's enough when you're little just to understand that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavi-gevinson/i-don-t-think-i-was-ever-thinking-critically-about-my-aesthetic-i/) [Tavi Gevinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavi-gevinson/) > [I'm kind of still down with Virg Woolf on this one: "women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been 'killed'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-m-kind-of-still-down-with-virg-woolf-on-this-one-women-must-kill/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/there-is-a-certain-aesthetic-pleasure-in-trying-to-imagine-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I try to get the hip-hop aesthetic, most times without an MC. I don't use a rapper or a DJ to give it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-glasper/i-try-to-get-the-hip-hop-aesthetic-most-times-without-an-mc-i-don-t/) [Robert Glasper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-glasper/) > [It's so important what you're doing in your life. It's tremendously important to the work, and no aesthetic theories take that into account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maus/it-s-so-important-what-you-re-doing-in-your-life-it-s-tremendously/) [John Maus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maus/) > [It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/it-is-not-necessary-to-have-an-extravagant-food-budget-in-order-to/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. Here the aesthetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/art-is-realistic-when-it-strives-to-express-an-ethical-ideal-realism/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [I had always wanted to expand to beauty, but I knew I wanted to be able to translate my design aesthetic in an authentic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-ronson/i-had-always-wanted-to-expand-to-beauty-but-i-knew-i-wanted-to-be/) [Charlotte Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-ronson/) > [I wanted the press to become something of a movement. Not a movement committed to a particular 'ism', but a gathering together of writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-metcalf/i-wanted-the-press-to-become-something-of-a-movement-not-a-movement/) John Metcalf [Browse all 953 Aesthetic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not an aesthetic misstep to make the viewer aware of the paint and the painter's hand. Such an empathetic awareness lies at the heart of aesthetic appreciation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-the-viewer-aware-of-the-paint/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aesthetic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-the-viewer-aware-of-the-paint/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/john-updike-396_aesthetic_it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-t_1230553.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/john-updike-396_aesthetic_it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-t_1230553.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/john-updike-396_aesthetic_it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-t_1230553.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is not an aesthetic misstep to make the viewer aware of the paint and the painter's hand. Such an…” — John Updike", "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": "John Updike", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is not an aesthetic misstep...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-the-viewer-aware-of-the-paint/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-is-not-an-aesthetic-misstep-to-make-the-viewer-aware-of-the-paint/#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 } } ] } ```