--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Paintings, like tombstones, will last a…" description: "\"Paintings, like tombstones, will last a good five hundred years, well into twenty or thirty generations.\" — Robert Genn" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/robert-genn-2179_artist_paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-go_3113384.png" --- # Paintings, like tombstones, will last a good five hundred… ![“Paintings, like tombstones, will last a good five hundred years, well into twenty or thirty generations.” quote by Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/robert-genn-2179_artist_paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-go_3113384.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/robert-genn-2179_artist_paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-go_3113384.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/robert-genn-2179_artist_paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-go_3113384.png) > “Paintings, like tombstones, will last a good five hundred years, well into twenty or thirty generations.” [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art endures far longer than a human life, outlasting many generations. **In simple terms:** Art lasts centuries. Key Takeaway Create lasting work. Themes legacy art time Mood thoughtful hopeful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - painting - public murals - family heirlooms Key Concepts impermanence generational impact Questions to Reflect On - How will your work be remembered? - What steps ensure art’s longevity? A Different Perspective Art may be forgotten without preservation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Hundred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hundred/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Like Tombstones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-tombstones-5443277/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Paintings Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paintings-like-234459/) [Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty/) [Thirty Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty-generations-1507520/) [Tombstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tombstone/) [Tombstones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tombstones/) [Tombstones Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tombstones-good-4244591/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [Bah, tombstones are only good for pigeons to sit on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/bah-tombstones-are-only-good-for-pigeons-to-sit-on/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [“Six hundred summers, she reflected.Six hundred snowy winters. Thirty-five generations of mortal humanity. And finally, again…the sun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-cox/six-hundred-summers-she-reflected-six-hundred-snowy-winters-thirty/) [Greg Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-cox/) > [At the great iron gate of the churchyard he stopped and looked in. He looked up at the high tower spectrally resisting the wind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/at-the-great-iron-gate-of-the-churchyard-he-stopped-and-looked-in-he/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The epitaphs on tombstones of a great many people should read: Died at thirty, and buried at sixty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-murray-butler/the-epitaphs-on-tombstones-of-a-great-many-people-should-read-died-at/) [Nicholas Murray Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-murray-butler/) > [You know, I've seen a lot of people walkin' 'roundWith tombstones in their eyesBut the pusher don't careAh, if you live or if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hoyt-axton/you-know-i-ve-seen-a-lot-of-people-walkin-roundwith-tombstones-in/) [Hoyt Axton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hoyt-axton/) > [Don't take anything for granite. That's what tombstones are made of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-erickson/don-t-take-anything-for-granite-that-s-what-tombstones-are-made-of/) [John R. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-erickson/) > [The majority of my symphonies are tombstones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitri-shostakovich/the-majority-of-my-symphonies-are-tombstones/) [Dmitri Shostakovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitri-shostakovich/) > [Cemeteries in Bohemia are like gardens. The graves are covered with grass and colourful flowers. Modest tombstones are lost in the greenery. When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/cemeteries-in-bohemia-are-like-gardens-the-graves-are-covered-with/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Actually I like the idea of being a Renaissance hack. 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Buried at 60.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-murray-butler/many-peoples-tombstones-should-read-died-at-30-buried-at-60/) [Nicholas Murray Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-murray-butler/) > [We think of mortality so little these days... I thought of the stern Victorian determination to keep death in mind, the uncompromising tombstones. Remember,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-french/we-think-of-mortality-so-little-these-days-i-thought-of-the-stern/) [Tana French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tana-french/) > [Nothing sells tombstones like a Girl Scout in uniform.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-m-appel/nothing-sells-tombstones-like-a-girl-scout-in-uniform/) [Jacob M. Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-m-appel/) ## More by Robert Genn > [We artists give daily thanks for the miracle of our planet and for the inclination and the capability to honour it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/we-artists-give-daily-thanks-for-the-miracle-of-our-planet-and-for/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Most of my contemporary grant-getters are now doing something other than painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/most-of-my-contemporary-grant-getters-are-now-doing-something-other/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Pushing yourself to extremes blows out the cobwebs of trusted habit. It shakes up what you know to be reliably safe and substitutes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/pushing-yourself-to-extremes-blows-out-the-cobwebs-of-trusted-habit/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Keep busy while you are waiting for something to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/keep-busy-while-you-are-waiting-for-something-to-happen/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Art is a course in personal development that has no reliable diploma and no known end. The pursuit of art instructs in beauty as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/art-is-a-course-in-personal-development-that-has-no-reliable-diploma/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Great paintings have gradations, large and small... They serve to lift the subject off the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Gradations are an essential abstract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/great-paintings-have-gradations-large-and-small-they-serve-to-lift/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Take your brush here and there like a bee in an alpine meadow. In other words, don't laboriously work on or try to finish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/take-your-brush-here-and-there-like-a-bee-in-an-alpine-meadow-in/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Evolved creators are just as curious about their failures as they are of their successes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/evolved-creators-are-just-as-curious-about-their-failures-as-they-are/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Art is a path on which we honour our world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/art-is-a-path-on-which-we-honour-our-world/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [With repetition, the alternate approaches become clear, options open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/with-repetition-the-alternate-approaches-become-clear-options-open/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [When shucked and released from its edges, the windowless subject stands alone as its own thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/when-shucked-and-released-from-its-edges-the-windowless-subject/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Mountains in all their moods are symbols of something greater, something worth aspiring to. Mountains are powerful, dangerous, beautiful, noble and mysterious. Mountains get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/mountains-in-all-their-moods-are-symbols-of-something-greater/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Our bodies, apart from their brilliant role as drawing exercises, are the temples of our being. Like the bodies of all fauna, they deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/our-bodies-apart-from-their-brilliant-role-as-drawing-exercises-are/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [When I'm in the studio I often hunger for the road. And when away I long for the efficiency of the studio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/when-i-m-in-the-studio-i-often-hunger-for-the-road-and-when-away-i/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [In life and art it's better to be an enthusiastic amateur than a jaded professional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/in-life-and-art-it-s-better-to-be-an-enthusiastic-amateur-than-a/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) [Explore all 181 Robert Genn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Paintings, like tombstones, will last a good five hundred years, well into twenty or thirty generations.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Genn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-good-five-hundred-years-well/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-good-five-hundred-years-well/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/robert-genn-2179_artist_paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-go_3113384.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/robert-genn-2179_artist_paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-go_3113384.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d6/robert-genn-2179_artist_paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-go_3113384.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Paintings, like tombstones, will last a good five hundred years, well into twenty or thirty generations.” — Robert Genn", "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": "Robert Genn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Paintings, like tombstones, will last a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-good-five-hundred-years-well/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/paintings-like-tombstones-will-last-a-good-five-hundred-years-well/#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 } } ] } ```