--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of the interesting things I…" description: "\"One of the interesting things I discovered is that in the late 19th century, painters actually had black-and-white copies made of their own paintings. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/robert-longo-20950_19th-century_one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discover_1039882.jpg" --- # One of the interesting things I discovered is that in the… ![“One of the interesting things I discovered is that in the late 19th century, painters actually had black-and-white copies made of their own paintings. They chose it even over photographs because they knew the photographic medium would distort their work.” quote by Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/robert-longo-20950_19th-century_one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discover_1039882.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/robert-longo-20950_19th-century_one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discover_1039882.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/robert-longo-20950_19th-century_one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discover_1039882.jpg) > “One of the interesting things I discovered is that in the late 19th century, painters actually had black-and-white copies made of their own paintings. They chose it even over photographs because they knew the photographic medium would distort their work.” [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists preferred black‑and‑white reproductions to preserve tonal fidelity, fearing photographs would alter their work's contrast and mood. **In simple terms:** Artists used B&W copies to keep true tones, avoiding photographic distortion. Key Takeaway Use the medium that best preserves your artistic intent. Themes art preservation technology authenticity Mood reflective analytical Type historical artistic When to use this quote - gallery displays - art education - museum catalogues - digital archiving Key Concepts visual fidelity medium choice artist intent Questions to Reflect On - How does medium choice affect perception of art? - When is fidelity more important than convenience? A Different Perspective Photographs can capture color but may misrepresent texture and depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black and white](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-and-white/) [Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) ## Related quotes > [The planets are never the same twice, they're always different, so they could compare the markings I had drawn with their current photographs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clyde-tombaugh/the-planets-are-never-the-same-twice-they-re-always-different-so-they/) [Clyde Tombaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clyde-tombaugh/) > [Just because I use the photographic medium, that doesn't mean I'm a photographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-s-lee/just-because-i-use-the-photographic-medium-that-doesn-t-mean-i-m-a/) [Nikki S. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-s-lee/) > [Light is the photographic medium par excellence; it is to the photographer what words are to the writer; color and paint to the painter;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andreas-feininger/light-is-the-photographic-medium-par-excellence-it-is-to-the/) [Andreas Feininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andreas-feininger/) > [Since the photographic medium has been digitized, a fixed definition of the term photography has become impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andreas-gursky/since-the-photographic-medium-has-been-digitized-a-fixed-definition/) [Andreas Gursky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andreas-gursky/) > [The fundamental peculiarity of the photographic medium; the physical objects themselves print their image by means of the optical and chemical action of light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/the-fundamental-peculiarity-of-the-photographic-medium-the-physical/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [“The Victorian era was an age of superlatives and larger-than-life characters, and as far as that goes, Dr. Wildman Whitehouse fit right in: what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/the-victorian-era-was-an-age-of-superlatives-and-larger-than-life/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [ . . . Luddites were those frenzied traditionalists of the early 19th century who toured \[England\] wrecking new weaving machines on the theory that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/luddites-were-those-frenzied-traditionalists-of-the-early-19th/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [By tracing the careers of the four members of the Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder has found a wonderful way not just to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-standage/by-tracing-the-careers-of-the-four-members-of-the-philosophical/) [Tom Standage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-standage/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Washington was no politician as we understand the word," replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be done today. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/washington-was-no-politician-as-we-understand-the-word-replied/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. She believed that daughters, educated though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/though-my-grandmother-had-picked-up-modern-ideas-in-america-she-still/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) ## More by Robert Longo > [The translation process becomes a highly subjective thing - turning reds and blues into black-and-whiteness. It's really bizarre for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/the-translation-process-becomes-a-highly-subjective-thing-turning/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [I always imagine that I want to make art that is going to kill you,whether it’s going to do it visually or physically, I’ll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/i-always-imagine-that-i-want-to-make-art-that-is-going-to-kill-you/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [My degree was in sculpture. I always think that drawing is a sculptural process. I always feel like I'm carving the image out rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/my-degree-was-in-sculpture-i-always-think-that-drawing-is-a/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [I've been dealing with epic images, and I realized all of a sudden that I grew up in the age of epics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/i-ve-been-dealing-with-epic-images-and-i-realized-all-of-a-sudden/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [I think the pursuit of trying to understand things is really a critical issue. I see the issue of life and death in everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/i-think-the-pursuit-of-trying-to-understand-things-is-really-a/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [An artist can have an intention, but the viewer has their own subjective experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/an-artist-can-have-an-intention-but-the-viewer-has-their-own/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [I'm trying to find answers. It can be quite frustrating, but at the same time, I'm never quite satisfied with what I'm doing, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/i-m-trying-to-find-answers-it-can-be-quite-frustrating-but-at-the/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [Dying young is the easy way out. It's much harder to keep your edge and keep it going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/dying-young-is-the-easy-way-out-it-s-much-harder-to-keep-your-edge/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [When I look back on everything I've done, it all somehow makes sense to me. But it doesn't make sense when you're actually doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/when-i-look-back-on-everything-i-ve-done-it-all-somehow-makes-sense/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [I can't come up with the titles. My wife hates my titles. She doesn't even want to know about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/i-can-t-come-up-with-the-titles-my-wife-hates-my-titles-she-doesn-t/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [The artist has to be a guardian of the culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/the-artist-has-to-be-a-guardian-of-the-culture/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [If you're fortunate enough with your history, like with Men in the Cities, your work becomes so absorbed in culture that the authorship of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/if-you-re-fortunate-enough-with-your-history-like-with-men-in-the/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [Modern abstract art starts in Russia in about 1915 with Malevich, and then the Russian Revolution happens, and eventually all that experimental art gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/modern-abstract-art-starts-in-russia-in-about-1915-with-malevich-and/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [A lot of us grew up in public. That often means that you have to fail in public too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/a-lot-of-us-grew-up-in-public-that-often-means-that-you-have-to-fail/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [As an artist - I'm sure like most creative people - you have a kind of board of directors that you make your work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/as-an-artist-i-m-sure-like-most-creative-people-you-have-a-kind-of/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) [Explore all 30 Robert Longo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) ## More 19th century quotes > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. She believed that daughters, educated though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/though-my-grandmother-had-picked-up-modern-ideas-in-america-she-still/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Washington was no politician as we understand the word," replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be done today. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/washington-was-no-politician-as-we-understand-the-word-replied/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [By tracing the careers of the four members of the Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder has found a wonderful way not just to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-standage/by-tracing-the-careers-of-the-four-members-of-the-philosophical/) [Tom Standage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-standage/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [ . . . Luddites were those frenzied traditionalists of the early 19th century who toured \[England\] wrecking new weaving machines on the theory that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/luddites-were-those-frenzied-traditionalists-of-the-early-19th/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [“The Victorian era was an age of superlatives and larger-than-life characters, and as far as that goes, Dr. Wildman Whitehouse fit right in: what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/the-victorian-era-was-an-age-of-superlatives-and-larger-than-life/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Take any writer you want in the 19th century: they wrote with quill pens, dipping a piece of goose feather in ink and writing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-murch/take-any-writer-you-want-in-the-19th-century-they-wrote-with-quill/) [Walter Murch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-murch/) > [There are real issues that the president Donald Trump and particularly Steve Bannon, his political adviser, are pushing. It's a vision, a rather dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franklin-jeffrey/there-are-real-issues-that-the-president-donald-trump-and/) [James Franklin Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franklin-jeffrey/) > [While every historical era has its unique appeal as a setting for tales of crime and detection, the 19th century is exceptional - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-weinman/while-every-historical-era-has-its-unique-appeal-as-a-setting-for/) [Sarah Weinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-weinman/) > [Adolescence was invented in the 19th century to enable middle-class families to keep their children out of sweatshops. But it has degenerated into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/adolescence-was-invented-in-the-19th-century-to-enable-middle-class/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [An ethic of maternalism was central to the utopianism of 19th century feminists. I don't think that today's women see motherhood as a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-wright/an-ethic-of-maternalism-was-central-to-the-utopianism-of-19th-century/) Clare Wright Browse all 383 19th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One of the interesting things I discovered is that in the late 19th century, painters actually had black-and-white copies made of their own paintings. They chose it even over photographs because they knew the photographic medium would distort their work.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Longo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discovered-is-that-in-the-late-19th/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "19th century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discovered-is-that-in-the-late-19th/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/robert-longo-20950_19th-century_one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discover_1039882.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/robert-longo-20950_19th-century_one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discover_1039882.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a7/robert-longo-20950_19th-century_one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discover_1039882.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One of the interesting things I discovered is that in the late 19th century, painters actually had…” — Robert Longo", "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 Longo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One of the interesting things I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discovered-is-that-in-the-late-19th/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/one-of-the-interesting-things-i-discovered-is-that-in-the-late-19th/#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 } } ] } ```