--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The painting is not on a surface, but on…" description: "\"The painting is not on a surface, but on a plane which is imagined. It moves in a mind. It is not there physically at all. It is an illusion, a piece o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ad/philip-guston-13611_artist_the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on_2766321.jpg" --- # The painting is not on a surface, but on a plane which is… ![“The painting is not on a surface, but on a plane which is imagined. It moves in a mind. It is not there physically at all. It is an illusion, a piece of magic, so that what you see is not what you see.” quote by Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ad/philip-guston-13611_artist_the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on_2766321.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ad/philip-guston-13611_artist_the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on_2766321.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ad/philip-guston-13611_artist_the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on_2766321.jpg) > “The painting is not on a surface, but on a plane which is imagined. It moves in a mind. It is not there physically at all. It is an illusion, a piece of magic, so that what you see is not what you see.” [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art exists as imagined planes in the mind, an illusion rather than a physical surface. **In simple terms:** Art is mental illusion, not physical. Key Takeaway Embrace imagination over literal representation. Themes art illusion imagination Mood abstract contemplative Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - gallery curation - creative workshops - visual storytelling Key Concepts aesthetics philosophy perception Questions to Reflect On - How does imagination shape your reality? - What role does materiality play in art? A Different Perspective Physical media still influences perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Planes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planes/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [Painting is an illusion, a piece of magic, so what you see is not what you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/painting-is-an-illusion-a-piece-of-magic-so-what-you-see-is-not-what/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [“You may say it is all in my head, and indeed sometimes it seems to me I am in a head and that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/you-may-say-it-is-all-in-my-head-and-indeed-sometimes-it-seems-to-me/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [The media can be an instrument of change. It can maintain the status quo and reflect the views of the society or it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-couric/the-media-can-be-an-instrument-of-change-it-can-maintain-the-status/) [Katie Couric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-couric/) > [I got Michael Caine's book, Acting In Film, and I read it on the plane, desperately trying to glean information from him about how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-mccormack/i-got-michael-caine-s-book-acting-in-film-and-i-read-it-on-the-plane/) [Eric McCormack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-mccormack/) > [Splutter, splutter. Yes - we're off - we're rising. But why start off with an engine like that? But it smooths out now, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/splutter-splutter-yes-we-re-off-we-re-rising-but-why-start-off-with/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Just hopped off the plane came back from Vancouv Little white tee sum boobs & bamboo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/just-hopped-off-the-plane-came-back-from-vancouv-little-white-tee-sum/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [I shoot in black and white, sometimes color, sometimes if it looks good I shoot out the window of the airplanes or whatever, anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/i-shoot-in-black-and-white-sometimes-color-sometimes-if-it-looks-good/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [When you put more than a million kids in school, you take a plane today and go to Haiti, you cannot see the results.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-martelly/when-you-put-more-than-a-million-kids-in-school-you-take-a-plane/) [Michel Martelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-martelly/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Other things being equal, it is the person who can lift his work up to the plane of the intuitional and inspiration who achieves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanwood-cobb/other-things-being-equal-it-is-the-person-who-can-lift-his-work-up-to/) Stanwood Cobb > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [I always step on the plane with my right foot and touch the outside of the plane with my left hand. Sometimes you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-davis/i-always-step-on-the-plane-with-my-right-foot-and-touch-the-outside/) [Hope Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-davis/) ## More by Philip Guston > [That's what I mean by something grips in a canvas. The moment that happens you are then sucked into the whole thing. Like some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/that-s-what-i-mean-by-something-grips-in-a-canvas-the-moment-that/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [Then you learn about composition, you learn about old masters, you form certain ideas about structure. But the inhuman activity of trying to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/then-you-learn-about-composition-you-learn-about-old-masters-you-form/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [I go to the studio everyday because one day I may go and the Angel will be there. What if I don't go and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/i-go-to-the-studio-everyday-because-one-day-i-may-go-and-the-angel/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [Sometimes I scrape off a lot. You have on the floor, like cow dung in the field, this big glob of paint... and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/sometimes-i-scrape-off-a-lot-you-have-on-the-floor-like-cow-dung-in/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [Painting seems like impossibility, with only a sign now and then of its own light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/painting-seems-like-impossibility-with-only-a-sign-now-and-then-of/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [Many works of the past complete what they announce they are going to do, to our increasing boredom. Certain others plague me because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/many-works-of-the-past-complete-what-they-announce-they-are-going-to/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [Probably the most potent desire for a painter, an image-maker, is to see it. To see what the mind can think and imagine, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/probably-the-most-potent-desire-for-a-painter-an-image-maker-is-to/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [No good to paint in the head - what happens is what happens when you put the paint down - you can only hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/no-good-to-paint-in-the-head-what-happens-is-what-happens-when-you/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [We are image-makers and image-ridden... We work until we vanish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/we-are-image-makers-and-image-ridden-we-work-until-we-vanish/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [The canvas you are working on modifies the previous ones in an unending, baffling chain which never seems to finish. What sympathy is demanded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/the-canvas-you-are-working-on-modifies-the-previous-ones-in-an/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [I do not see why the loss of faith in the known image and symbol in our time should be celebrated as a freedom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/i-do-not-see-why-the-loss-of-faith-in-the-known-image-and-symbol-in/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [The things I felt... about certain painters of the past that... inspired me, like Cezanne and Manet... that complete losing of oneself in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/the-things-i-felt-about-certain-painters-of-the-past-that-inspired-me/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [I am a night painter, so when I come into the studio the next morning the delirium is over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/i-am-a-night-painter-so-when-i-come-into-the-studio-the-next-morning/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [Usually I am on a work for a long stretch, until a moment arrives when the air of the arbitrary vanishes, and the paint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/usually-i-am-on-a-work-for-a-long-stretch-until-a-moment-arrives-when/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) > [All these troubles revolve around the irritable mutual dependence of life and art - with their need and contempt for one another. Of necessity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/all-these-troubles-revolve-around-the-irritable-mutual-dependence-of/) [Philip Guston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) [Explore all 49 Philip Guston quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/) ## More Artist quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“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 > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [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 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/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The painting is not on a surface, but on a plane which is imagined. It moves in a mind. It is not there physically at all. It is an illusion, a piece of magic, so that what you see is not what you see.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Guston" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on-a-plane-which-is-imagined-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on-a-plane-which-is-imagined-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ad/philip-guston-13611_artist_the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on_2766321.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ad/philip-guston-13611_artist_the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on_2766321.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ad/philip-guston-13611_artist_the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on_2766321.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The painting is not on a surface, but on a plane which is imagined. It moves in a mind. It is not there…” — Philip Guston", "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": "Philip Guston", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-guston/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The painting is not on a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on-a-plane-which-is-imagined-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-guston/the-painting-is-not-on-a-surface-but-on-a-plane-which-is-imagined-it/#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 } } ] } ```