--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An abstract painting need in 50 years by…" description: "\"An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look \"abstract\" any longer.\" — Marcel Duchamp" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/marcel-duchamp-2390_abstract_an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by_1827034.jpg" --- # An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look… ![“An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look "abstract" any longer.” quote by Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/marcel-duchamp-2390_abstract_an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by_1827034.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/marcel-duchamp-2390_abstract_an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by_1827034.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/marcel-duchamp-2390_abstract_an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by_1827034.jpg) > “An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look "abstract" any longer.” [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Abstract art may become recognizable over time, losing its abstract quality. **In simple terms:** Abstract art can become less abstract. Key Takeaway Consider how perception changes over time. Themes art abstraction time Mood thoughtful curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - museum curation - art education - public exhibitions Key Concepts perception cultural shift art history Questions to Reflect On - How does time affect artistic meaning? - Can art remain abstract forever? A Different Perspective Changing contexts may alter original intent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Abstract painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract-painting/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) ## Related quotes > [Some people who look at abstract art say 'I could do that.' A good response is, 'Go ahead but then you'll be accused of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-willard/some-people-who-look-at-abstract-art-say-i-could-do-that-a-good/) [Christopher Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-willard/) > [The freer the soul, the more abstract painting becomes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-chagall/the-freer-the-soul-the-more-abstract-painting-becomes/) [Marc Chagall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-chagall/) > [Abstract paintings must be as real as those created by the 16th century Italians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-stella/abstract-paintings-must-be-as-real-as-those-created-by-the-16th/) [Frank Stella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-stella/) > [“It is so wearisome having to represent things. That is why I refuse to look at abstract art. It is much too suggestive of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/it-is-so-wearisome-having-to-represent-things-that-is-why-i-refuse-to/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > [I can't just have one painting - I need to cover the wall in paintings. It's the same with my music. I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/i-can-t-just-have-one-painting-i-need-to-cover-the-wall-in-paintings/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [I love painting and have a need to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/i-love-painting-and-have-a-need-to-do-it/) [Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/) > [Painting is something that you need to do, if not every day, then certainly most days. It is almost like being a pianist: if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/painting-is-something-that-you-need-to-do-if-not-every-day-then/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [A lot of my work is about what's abstract and what's pictorial. Is it bubblegum, or is it an abstract painting using bubblegum? The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-colen/a-lot-of-my-work-is-about-what-s-abstract-and-what-s-pictorial-is-it/) [Dan Colen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-colen/) > [Painting is a duality and abstract painting is an entirely aesthetic thing. It always remains on one level. It is only really interesting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/painting-is-a-duality-and-abstract-painting-is-an-entirely-aesthetic/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [I guess I have no motivation to make an abstract painting, even if they sometimes read as abstract. I think, with abstraction, it's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bradley/i-guess-i-have-no-motivation-to-make-an-abstract-painting-even-if/) [Joe Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bradley/) > [Of all the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wassily-kandinsky/of-all-the-arts-abstract-painting-is-the-most-difficult-it-demands/) [Wassily Kandinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wassily-kandinsky/) > [I began in 1976, with small abstract paintings that allowed me to do what I had never let myself do: put something down at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-began-in-1976-with-small-abstract-paintings-that-allowed-me-to-do/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [When I'm not working on a children's book, I'm painting abstract paintings. That's probably the most joyous thing for me as an artist. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-grandpre/when-i-m-not-working-on-a-children-s-book-i-m-painting-abstract/) [Mary GrandPre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-grandpre/) > [We speak of concrete and not abstract painting because nothing is more concrete, more real than a line, a color, a surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theo-van-doesburg/we-speak-of-concrete-and-not-abstract-painting-because-nothing-is/) [Theo van Doesburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theo-van-doesburg/) > [That’s the huge problem with an abstract painting. When are you done? You’re done when you don’t want to do it anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/that-s-the-huge-problem-with-an-abstract-painting-when-are-you-done/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) ## More by Marcel Duchamp > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Humor is the only reason to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/humor-is-the-only-reason-to-live/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/the-creative-act-is-not-performed-by-the-artist-alone-the-spectator/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I believe that the artist doesn't know what he does. I attach even more importance to the spectator than to the artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/i-believe-that-the-artist-doesn-t-know-what-he-does-i-attach-even/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Living is more a question of what one spends than what one makes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/living-is-more-a-question-of-what-one-spends-than-what-one-makes/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Rational intelligence is dangerous and leads to ratiocination. The painter is a medium who doesn't realize what he is doing. No translation can express…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/rational-intelligence-is-dangerous-and-leads-to-ratiocination-the/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Everything important that I have done can be put into a little suitcase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/everything-important-that-i-have-done-can-be-put-into-a-little/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [As soon as we start putting our thoughts into words and sentences everything gets distorted, language is just no damn good—I use it because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/as-soon-as-we-start-putting-our-thoughts-into-words-and-sentences/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [The basis for my own work during the years just before coming to America in 1915 was a desire to break up forms -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/the-basis-for-my-own-work-during-the-years-just-before-coming-to/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [The curious thing about that moustache and goatee is that when you look at the Mona Lisa it becomes a man. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/the-curious-thing-about-that-moustache-and-goatee-is-that-when-you/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I am afraid to end up being in need to sell canvases - in other words, to be a society painter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/i-am-afraid-to-end-up-being-in-need-to-sell-canvases-in-other-words/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [In the midst of each epoch, I fully realize that a new epoch will dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/in-the-midst-of-each-epoch-i-fully-realize-that-a-new-epoch-will-dawn/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [To all appearances the artist acts like a mediumistic being who, from the labyrinth beyond time and space, seeks his way out to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/to-all-appearances-the-artist-acts-like-a-mediumistic-being-who-from/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Words such as truth, art, veracity, or anything are stupid in themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/words-such-as-truth-art-veracity-or-anything-are-stupid-in-themselves/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) [Explore all 169 Marcel Duchamp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look \"abstract\" any longer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Duchamp" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by-no-means-look-abstract-any/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstract" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by-no-means-look-abstract-any/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/marcel-duchamp-2390_abstract_an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by_1827034.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/marcel-duchamp-2390_abstract_an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by_1827034.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d4/marcel-duchamp-2390_abstract_an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by_1827034.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look \"abstract\" any longer.” — Marcel Duchamp", "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": "Marcel Duchamp", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An abstract painting need in 50...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by-no-means-look-abstract-any/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by-no-means-look-abstract-any/#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 } } ] } ```