--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A fine artist is one who makes familiar…" description: "\"A fine artist is one who makes familiar things new and new things familiar.\" — Louis Nizer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/louis-nizer-27493_art_a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar_395204.jpg" --- # A fine artist is one who makes familiar things new and new… ![“A fine artist is one who makes familiar things new and new things familiar.” quote by Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/louis-nizer-27493_art_a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar_395204.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/louis-nizer-27493_art_a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar_395204.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/louis-nizer-27493_art_a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar_395204.jpg) > “A fine artist is one who makes familiar things new and new things familiar.” [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) ## 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 transforms ordinary subjects into fresh perspectives and makes novel ideas feel accessible. **In simple terms:** Artists refresh the familiar and simplify the new. Key Takeaway Embrace both reinterpretation and clarity. Themes creativity perception innovation Mood inspired reflective Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - gallery curation - advertising - educational design - product development Key Concepts aesthetic transformation cognitive framing Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance novelty with familiarity? - When does reinterpretation become gimmick? A Different Perspective May alienate audiences resistant to change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Familiar things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar-things/) [Fine Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine-artist/) [Fine artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine-artists/) [Fine arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine-arts/) [New things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-things/) [Renewal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/renewal/) ## Related quotes > [It is the special privilege of the fine artist to reveal immediate data with a clarity, intensity and purity that promotes them to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alton-tobey/it-is-the-special-privilege-of-the-fine-artist-to-reveal-immediate/) [Alton Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alton-tobey/) > [I'm a fine artist working in a commercial arena, so that's my cross to bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/i-m-a-fine-artist-working-in-a-commercial-arena-so-that-s-my-cross-to/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [As a fine artist I was drawn to composition and technique. I would count the cuts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfonso-gomez-rejon/as-a-fine-artist-i-was-drawn-to-composition-and-technique-i-would/) [Alfonso Gomez-Rejon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfonso-gomez-rejon/) > [I identify first and foremost as a fine artist. Even the way that I put words together; this could be called painterly and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-nadler/i-identify-first-and-foremost-as-a-fine-artist-even-the-way-that-i/) [Marissa Nadler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-nadler/) > [I've been very lucky. I've had three separate careers: freelance illustrator, then set designer, puppetteer and animator, and now fine artist. I just bluffed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-white/i-ve-been-very-lucky-i-ve-had-three-separate-careers-freelance/) [Wayne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-white/) > [What a designer does is he makes things possible that you didn't imagine could exist before, and it makes the world a better place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-scher/what-a-designer-does-is-he-makes-things-possible-that-you-didn-t/) [Paula Scher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-scher/) > [I think... it is somehow very useful, and maybe even essential, for a fine artist to have to somehow make his peace on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-think-it-is-somehow-very-useful-and-maybe-even-essential-for-a-fine/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Poetry is when you make new things familiar and familiar things new](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-sutherland/poetry-is-when-you-make-new-things-familiar-and-familiar-things-new/) [Rory Sutherland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-sutherland/) > [New things are made familiar, and familiar things are made new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/new-things-are-made-familiar-and-familiar-things-are-made-new/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The two most engaging powers of a good author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-two-most-engaging-powers-of-a-good-author-are-to-make-new-things/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is the first changes among familiar things that make such a mystery of time to the young; afterwards we lose the sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/it-is-the-first-changes-among-familiar-things-that-make-such-a-2/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [“The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/the-two-most-engaging-powers-of-an-author-are-to-make-new-things/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [In this work are exhibited, in a very high degree, the two most engaging powers of an author. New things are made familiar, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/in-this-work-are-exhibited-in-a-very-high-degree-the-two-most/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/poetry-lifts-the-veil-from-the-hidden-beauty-of-the-world-and-makes/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Traditionally, photography has dealt with recording the world as it is found. Before photography appeared the fine artists of the time, the painters and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-gibson/traditionally-photography-has-dealt-with-recording-the-world-as-it-is/) [Ralph Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-gibson/) ## More by Louis Nizer > [Luck usually visits me at 2 am on a cold morning when, red-eyed and bone-weary, I am pouring over law books preparing a case.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/luck-usually-visits-me-at-2-am-on-a-cold-morning-when-red-eyed-and/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [Most lawyers who win a case advise their clients, "We have won," and when justice has frowned upon their cause ... "You have lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/most-lawyers-who-win-a-case-advise-their-clients-we-have-won-and-when/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [A man's life is colored by the dye of his imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-man-s-life-is-colored-by-the-dye-of-his-imagination/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [Education is not the accumulation of knowledge, but the ability to find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/education-is-not-the-accumulation-of-knowledge-but-the-ability-to/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [Yes, there's such a thing as luck in trial law but it only comes at 3 o'clock in the morning. You'll still find me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/yes-there-s-such-a-thing-as-luck-in-trial-law-but-it-only-comes-at-3/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [Oh, I get lucky a lot. I get lucky at four in the morning in the law library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/oh-i-get-lucky-a-lot-i-get-lucky-at-four-in-the-morning-in-the-law/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [A graceful taunt is worth a thousand insults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-graceful-taunt-is-worth-a-thousand-insults/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [A father is a thousand schoolmasters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-father-is-a-thousand-schoolmasters/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [Many people with different backgrounds, cultures, languages, and creeds combine to make a nation. But that nation is greater than the sum total of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/many-people-with-different-backgrounds-cultures-languages-and-creeds/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [The best reply to an atheist is to give him a good dinner and ask him if he believes there is a cook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/the-best-reply-to-an-atheist-is-to-give-him-a-good-dinner-and-ask-him/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [Where there is no difference, there is only indifference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/where-there-is-no-difference-there-is-only-indifference/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [“A man who works with his hands is a laborer. A man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-man-who-works-with-his-hands-is-a-laborer-a-man-who-works-with-his/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [A speaker who does not strike oil in ten minutes should stop boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-speaker-who-does-not-strike-oil-in-ten-minutes-should-stop-boring/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-man-who-works-with-his-hands-is-a-laborer-a-man-who-works-with-his-2/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) > [True religion is the life we lead, not the creed we profess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/true-religion-is-the-life-we-lead-not-the-creed-we-profess/) [Louis Nizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) [Explore all 20 Louis Nizer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/) ## 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 fine artist is one who makes familiar things new and new things familiar.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Louis Nizer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar-things-new-and-new-things/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar-things-new-and-new-things/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/louis-nizer-27493_art_a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar_395204.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/louis-nizer-27493_art_a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar_395204.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/louis-nizer-27493_art_a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar_395204.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A fine artist is one who makes familiar things new and new things familiar.” — Louis Nizer", "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": "Louis Nizer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-nizer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A fine artist is one who...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar-things-new-and-new-things/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-nizer/a-fine-artist-is-one-who-makes-familiar-things-new-and-new-things/#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 } } ] } ```