---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Practically all great artists accept the…"
description: "\"Practically all great artists accept the influence of others. But... the artist with vision sees his material, chooses, changes, and by integrating wha..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/romare-bearden-23522_accepting_practically-all-great-artists-accept-the_1693707.jpg"
---

#  Practically all great artists accept the influence of…

![“Practically all great artists accept the influence of others. But... the artist with vision sees his material, chooses, changes, and by integrating what he has learned with his own experiences, finally molds something distinctly personnel.” quote by Romare Bearden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/romare-bearden-23522_accepting_practically-all-great-artists-accept-the_1693707.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/romare-bearden-23522_accepting_practically-all-great-artists-accept-the_1693707.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/romare-bearden-23522_accepting_practically-all-great-artists-accept-the_1693707.jpg)

> “Practically all great artists accept the influence of others. But... the artist with vision sees his material, chooses, changes, and by integrating what he has learned with his own experiences, finally molds something distinctly personnel.”

[Romare Bearden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romare-bearden/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Artists must absorb others' ideas, then transform them through personal vision to create uniquely personal work.

**In simple terms:** Artists blend influence with personal experience to create originality.

Key Takeaway

Integrate influences with your own voice.

Themes

creativity influence originality vision

Mood

inspirational reflective

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- painting
- music composition
- writing
- design projects

Key Concepts

artistic synthesis personal narrative cultural dialogue

Questions to Reflect On

- In what ways can you honor influences without copying?
- How does personal experience reshape borrowed ideas?

A Different Perspective

Overemphasis on influence can dilute individuality.

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> [There are so many great artists, I think, who kind of suffer from being icons, legends, acknowledged masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-linklater/there-are-so-many-great-artists-i-think-who-kind-of-suffer-from-being/)

[Richard Linklater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-linklater/)

## More by Romare Bearden

> [The artist has to be something like a whale swimming with his mouth wide open, absorbing everything until he has what he really needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romare-bearden/the-artist-has-to-be-something-like-a-whale-swimming-with-his-mouth/)

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> [It was not my aim to paint about the Negro in America in terms of propaganda. It is to depict the life of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romare-bearden/it-was-not-my-aim-to-paint-about-the-negro-in-america-in-terms-of/)

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> [My purpose is to paint the life of my people as I know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romare-bearden/my-purpose-is-to-paint-the-life-of-my-people-as-i-know-it/)

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