--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The purpose of art: to make the…" description: "\"The purpose of art: to make the unconscious conscious.\" — Richard Wagner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/richard-wagner-7708_art_the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscio_3121211.jpg" --- # The purpose of art: to make the unconscious conscious. ![“The purpose of art: to make the unconscious conscious.” quote by Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/richard-wagner-7708_art_the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscio_3121211.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/richard-wagner-7708_art_the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscio_3121211.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/richard-wagner-7708_art_the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscio_3121211.jpg) > “The purpose of art: to make the unconscious conscious.” [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art serves to reveal hidden inner truths, turning subconscious material into conscious awareness. **In simple terms:** Art reveals hidden inner truths. Key Takeaway Use art to explore hidden feelings. Themes creativity psychology expression Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - creative workshops - personal reflection Key Concepts subconscious consciousness symbolism Questions to Reflect On - How can you use art to uncover personal blind spots? - What unconscious themes appear in your creative work? A Different Perspective Art may not always translate complex unconscious material clearly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Purpose of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [“The job of the conscious is to make the unconscious conscious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stokely-carmichael/the-job-of-the-conscious-is-to-make-the-unconscious-conscious/) [Stokely Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stokely-carmichael/) > [Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/until-you-make-the-unconscious-conscious-it-will-direct-your-life-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The purpose of art actually is, in many cases, to make you feel quite uncomfortable. Or at least to go to that place that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moore/the-purpose-of-art-actually-is-in-many-cases-to-make-you-feel-quite/) [Michael Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moore/) > [“The purpose of art is to elevate the spirit or to pay a surgeon’s bill. Or both. It can help a person remember or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-purpose-of-art-is-to-elevate-the-spirit-or-to-pay-a-surgeon-s/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [And really the purpose of art - for me, fiction - is to alert, to indicate to stop, to say: Make certain that when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerzy-kosi-ski/and-really-the-purpose-of-art-for-me-fiction-is-to-alert-to-indicate/) [Jerzy Kosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerzy-kosi-ski/) > [In the evolution of knowledge-mistaken and unnecessary beliefs are forced out and supplanted by truer and more necessary knowledge. So too in the evolution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/in-the-evolution-of-knowledge-mistaken-and-unnecessary-beliefs-are/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The purpose of art is to stop time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-purpose-of-art-is-to-stop-time/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The purpose of art is the lifelong construction of a state of wonder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-gould/the-purpose-of-art-is-the-lifelong-construction-of-a-state-of-wonder/) [Glenn Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-gould/) > [I have a very, very good relationship with 10 percent of the audience. The only purpose of art is intimacy. That's the only point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-have-a-very-very-good-relationship-with-10-percent-of-the-audience/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [When you're an artist, you're working, literally, for the sole purpose of art, and when people discredit you, it's probably the most disrespectful thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kali-uchis/when-you-re-an-artist-you-re-working-literally-for-the-sole-purpose/) [Kali Uchis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kali-uchis/) > [“My theory is that the purpose of art is to transmit universal truths of a sort, but of a particular sort, that in art,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/my-theory-is-that-the-purpose-of-art-is-to-transmit-universal-truths/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [The purpose of art is to re-present nature, not represent it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-albers/the-purpose-of-art-is-to-re-present-nature-not-represent-it/) [Josef Albers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-albers/) > [I don't really believe in political art. I feel in my heart the purpose of art transcends cultural and class and politics. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-lennon/i-don-t-really-believe-in-political-art-i-feel-in-my-heart-the/) [Sean Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-lennon/) > [To me the purpose of art is to produce something alive...but with a separate, and of course one hopes, with an everlasting life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-green/to-me-the-purpose-of-art-is-to-produce-something-alive-but-with-a/) [Henry Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-green/) > [“I believe that the justification of art is the internal combustion it ignites in the hearts of men and not its shallow, externalized, public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-gould/i-believe-that-the-justification-of-art-is-the-internal-combustion-it/) [Glenn Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-gould/) ## More by Richard Wagner > [Joy is not in things; it is in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/joy-is-not-in-things-it-is-in-us/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [My destiny is solitude, and my life is work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/my-destiny-is-solitude-and-my-life-is-work/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [In contrast to reincarnation and karma, all other views seem petty and narrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/in-contrast-to-reincarnation-and-karma-all-other-views-seem-petty-and/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [The oldest, truest, most beautiful organ of music, the origin to which alone our music owes its being, is the human voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-oldest-truest-most-beautiful-organ-of-music-the-origin-to-which/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [Any so-called stimulus program is a ruse. The government can increase its spending only by reducing private spending equivalently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/any-so-called-stimulus-program-is-a-ruse-the-government-can-increase/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [I hate this fast growing tendency to chain men to machines in big factories and deprive them of all joy in their efforts -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/i-hate-this-fast-growing-tendency-to-chain-men-to-machines-in-big/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [What a wonderful work Wagner has done for humanity in translating the toil of life into the readable script of music! For those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/what-a-wonderful-work-wagner-has-done-for-humanity-in-translating-the/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [Here, everything is tragic through and through, and the will, that fain would shape a world according to its wish, at last can reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/here-everything-is-tragic-through-and-through-and-the-will-that-fain/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [The error in the art-genre of Opera consists herein: a Means of expression (Music) has been made the end, while the End of expression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-error-in-the-art-genre-of-opera-consists-herein-a-means-of/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [I have only a mind to live, to enjoy - i.e., to work as an artist, and produce my works; but not for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/i-have-only-a-mind-to-live-to-enjoy-i-e-to-work-as-an-artist-and/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [Richard Wagner, a musician who wrote music which is better than it sounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/richard-wagner-a-musician-who-wrote-music-which-is-better-than-it/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [...you know my faithfulness to you, never can another own my heart, never - never - never...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/you-know-my-faithfulness-to-you-never-can-another-own-my-heart-never/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [From its first faint glimmerings, History shews Man's constant progress as a beast of prey. As such he conquers every land, subdues the fruit-fed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/from-its-first-faint-glimmerings-history-shews-man-s-constant/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [When religion becomes artificial, art has a duty to rescue it. Art can show that the symbols which religions would have us believe literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/when-religion-becomes-artificial-art-has-a-duty-to-rescue-it-art-can/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [The measures and acts which show us violently disposed towards the outer world can never stay without a violent reaction on ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-measures-and-acts-which-show-us-violently-disposed-towards-the/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) [Explore all 83 Richard Wagner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) ## 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": "The purpose of art: to make the unconscious conscious.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Wagner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscious-conscious/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscious-conscious/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/richard-wagner-7708_art_the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscio_3121211.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/richard-wagner-7708_art_the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscio_3121211.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/richard-wagner-7708_art_the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscio_3121211.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The purpose of art: to make the unconscious conscious.” — Richard Wagner", "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": "Richard Wagner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The purpose of art: to make...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscious-conscious/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/the-purpose-of-art-to-make-the-unconscious-conscious/#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 } } ] } ```