--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An artist must find his expression…" description: "\"An artist must find his expression closely linked to his individual experience or else follow in the old grooves resulting in lifeless forms.\" — Mark T..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eea/mark-tobey-24950_art_an-artist-must-find-his-expression-close_546801.png" --- # An artist must find his expression closely linked to his… ![“An artist must find his expression closely linked to his individual experience or else follow in the old grooves resulting in lifeless forms.” quote by Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eea/mark-tobey-24950_art_an-artist-must-find-his-expression-close_546801.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eea/mark-tobey-24950_art_an-artist-must-find-his-expression-close_546801.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eea/mark-tobey-24950_art_an-artist-must-find-his-expression-close_546801.png) > “An artist must find his expression closely linked to his individual experience or else follow in the old grooves resulting in lifeless forms.” [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists should draw inspiration from personal experience; otherwise work becomes generic and lifeless. **In simple terms:** Personal experience fuels authentic art. Key Takeaway Connect art to your life story. Themes creativity authenticity experience expression Mood inspirational introspective Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - personal projects - workshops - creative retreats Key Concepts self‑reflection artistic originality emotional depth Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance personal voice with broader relevance? - What experiences shape your artistic style? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on personal may limit universal appeal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-expression-2325318/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Groove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groove/) [Grooves Resulting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grooves-resulting-4560874/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Lifeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifeless/) [Lifeless Forms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifeless-forms-1983844/) [Linked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/linked/) [Old Grooves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-grooves-4560876/) [Resulting Lifeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resulting-lifeless-4560875/) ## Related quotes > [Actions are but lifeless forms whose soul is the secret of sincerity in them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-ata-allah/actions-are-but-lifeless-forms-whose-soul-is-the-secret-of-sincerity/) [Ibn Ata Allah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-ata-allah/) > [Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/every-production-of-an-artist-should-be-the-expression-of-an/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Dancing is surely the most basic and relevant of all forms of expression. Nothing else can so effectively give outward form to an inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/dancing-is-surely-the-most-basic-and-relevant-of-all-forms-of/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [Art matters. It is not simply a leisure activity for the privileged or a hobby for the eccentric. It is a practical good for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gungor/art-matters-it-is-not-simply-a-leisure-activity-for-the-privileged-or/) [Michael Gungor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gungor/) > [Drawing is the most inalienable medium. It is private; it practically doesn't have an audience in mind, just the artist's expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-goodwin/drawing-is-the-most-inalienable-medium-it-is-private-it-practically/) [Betty Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-goodwin/) > [The sincerity of delivery is what always strikes me when I hear a good band. It's artist-expression driven, as opposed to being record-producer driven.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-carey/the-sincerity-of-delivery-is-what-always-strikes-me-when-i-hear-a/) [Danny Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-carey/) > [It is the poet and philosopher who provide the community of objectives in which the artist participates. Their chief preoccupation, like the artist, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/it-is-the-poet-and-philosopher-who-provide-the-community-of/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [“...lifeless and shockingly alien in that place where dissolution itself was a seething turmoil of ejaculation tumescence conception and birth, and death did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/lifeless-and-shockingly-alien-in-that-place-where-dissolution-itself/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [... at the beginning of the human race the woman was made of a rib taken from the side of the man while he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/at-the-beginning-of-the-human-race-the-woman-was-made-of-a-rib-taken/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [“The conversation limped along this line of thought much like a zombie: lifeless and mindless and making a jelly of whatever healthy brains were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hockensmith/the-conversation-limped-along-this-line-of-thought-much-like-a-zombie/) [Steve Hockensmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hockensmith/) > [These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-highet/these-are-not-books-lumps-of-lifeless-paper-but-minds-alive-on-the/) [Gilbert Highet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-highet/) > [Hemingway sucks. If I set out to write that way, it would have been been hollow and lifeless because it wasn't me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/hemingway-sucks-if-i-set-out-to-write-that-way-it-would-have-been/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [This lifeless heart..your love had brought it alive.and then it was your love,that made it distraught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/destiny-dreams/this-lifeless-heart-your-love-had-brought-it-alive-and-then-it-was/) [Destiny Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/destiny-dreams/) > [It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/it-was-a-spring-without-voices-on-the-mornings-that-had-once-throbbed/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) ## More by Mark Tobey > [I've tried to decentralize and interpenetrate so that all parts of a painting are of related value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/i-ve-tried-to-decentralize-and-interpenetrate-so-that-all-parts-of-a/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [Problems are an important part of maturing--meet them straight on. Work them out. It's like the chick in the egg. It has to break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/problems-are-an-important-part-of-maturing-meet-them-straight-on-work/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [At a time when experimentation expresses itself in all forms of life, search becomes the only valid expression of the spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/at-a-time-when-experimentation-expresses-itself-in-all-forms-of-life/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [Every artist's problem today is: What will we do with the human?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/every-artist-s-problem-today-is-what-will-we-do-with-the-human/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [I believe that painting should come through the avenues of meditation rather than the canals of action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/i-believe-that-painting-should-come-through-the-avenues-of-meditation/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [Don't help the young too much — it will just weaken them and they'll resent it, and finally start avoiding you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/don-t-help-the-young-too-much-it-will-just-weaken-them-and-they-ll/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [We all feel a separateness; we wish that a drop of water would soften our ego; the world needs a common conscience: agreement... we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/we-all-feel-a-separateness-we-wish-that-a-drop-of-water-would-soften/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [On pavements and the bark of trees I have found whole worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/on-pavements-and-the-bark-of-trees-i-have-found-whole-worlds/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [There has been 32 isms since the advent of cubism, yet after all there are essentially the same two old strings, the Romantic and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/there-has-been-32-isms-since-the-advent-of-cubism-yet-after-all-there/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [Now it seems to me that we are in a universalising period... If we are to have world peace, we should have an understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/now-it-seems-to-me-that-we-are-in-a-universalising-period-if-we-are/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [But there was escape, too, even in those days, for there was Whistler living in the grey mists with a faded orange moon. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/but-there-was-escape-too-even-in-those-days-for-there-was-whistler/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [The dimension that counts for the creative person is the space he creates within himself. This inner space is closer to the infinite than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/the-dimension-that-counts-for-the-creative-person-is-the-space-he/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [Reality must be expressed by a physical symbol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/reality-must-be-expressed-by-a-physical-symbol/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [You don't want to help the young too much,it will just weaken them and they'll only resent it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/you-don-t-want-to-help-the-young-too-much-it-will-just-weaken-them/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) > [The Cubists used the figure, but they broke it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/the-cubists-used-the-figure-but-they-broke-it-up/) [Mark Tobey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) [Explore all 23 Mark Tobey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/) ## 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. 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": "An artist must find his expression closely linked to his individual experience or else follow in the old grooves resulting in lifeless forms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Tobey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/an-artist-must-find-his-expression-closely-linked-to-his-individual/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/an-artist-must-find-his-expression-closely-linked-to-his-individual/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eea/mark-tobey-24950_art_an-artist-must-find-his-expression-close_546801.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eea/mark-tobey-24950_art_an-artist-must-find-his-expression-close_546801.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eea/mark-tobey-24950_art_an-artist-must-find-his-expression-close_546801.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An artist must find his expression closely linked to his individual experience or else follow in the old…” — Mark Tobey", "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": "Mark Tobey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-tobey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An artist must find his expression...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/an-artist-must-find-his-expression-closely-linked-to-his-individual/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-tobey/an-artist-must-find-his-expression-closely-linked-to-his-individual/#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 } } ] } ```