--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What the artist should be asking is, \"Am…" description: "\"What the artist should be asking is, \"Am I being honest? Am I being myself? Am I searching for the truth? Am I reporting my experience of life and the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/429/scott-kahn-31749_art_what-the-artist-should-be-asking-is-am-i_821582.jpg" --- # What the artist should be asking is, "Am I being honest?… ![“What the artist should be asking is, "Am I being honest? Am I being myself? Am I searching for the truth? Am I reporting my experience of life and the world as I see and experience it?” quote by Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/429/scott-kahn-31749_art_what-the-artist-should-be-asking-is-am-i_821582.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/429/scott-kahn-31749_art_what-the-artist-should-be-asking-is-am-i_821582.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/429/scott-kahn-31749_art_what-the-artist-should-be-asking-is-am-i_821582.jpg) > “What the artist should be asking is, "Am I being honest? Am I being myself? Am I searching for the truth? Am I reporting my experience of life and the world as I see and experience it?” [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The artist must constantly question authenticity, seeking truth and personal experience in their work. **In simple terms:** Artists should ask if they are honest and true to themselves. Key Takeaway Pursue honest, personal expression. Themes authenticity self‑discovery truth‑seeking Mood introspective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery exhibition - personal journal - creative workshop - public performance Key Concepts existentialism artistic integrity Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance honesty with audience expectations? - What methods help you stay true to your vision? A Different Perspective Self‑questioning can stall creation if over‑analyzed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Being honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-honest/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Beware of anyone who calls you bad names merely for asking honest questions. Beware of anyone who insists on reframing your sincere curiosity as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-goad/beware-of-anyone-who-calls-you-bad-names-merely-for-asking-honest/) [Jim Goad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-goad/) > [When it comes to our makeup artist asking me, 'So, what do you want today?' I'm like, 'I don't know.' I have no idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-jane/when-it-comes-to-our-makeup-artist-asking-me-so-what-do-you-want/) [Dinah Jane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-jane/) > [Usually if someone is taken under someones wing they have a wing strong enough to support flight on their own first... thats what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novi-novak/usually-if-someone-is-taken-under-someones-wing-they-have-a-wing/) [Novi Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novi-novak/) > [I am not the best in the world nor the worst, I am me and that's enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-not-the-best-in-the-world-nor-the-worst-i-am-me-and-that-s-enough/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I always had difficulty as a model just being myself. 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Limited Edition :D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faisal-khan-neal/i-m-single-eligible-but-not-available-limited-edition-d/) Faisal Khan Neal > [I am me and thats it... And he loves me this way!(:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade/i-am-me-and-thats-it-and-he-loves-me-this-way/) [Jade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [I don't claim 2 be perfect, but whatever I do is more then it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-claim-2-be-perfect-but-whatever-i-do-is-more-then-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Scott Kahn > [The conceptual and politically-driven art so popular and considered to be the forefront of contemporary art today is limited by its topicality and will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/the-conceptual-and-politically-driven-art-so-popular-and-considered/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [Art springs from life but it doesn't mean we have to be tyrannized by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/art-springs-from-life-but-it-doesn-t-mean-we-have-to-be-tyrannized-by/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [Color, like everything else concerning visual expression, usually boils down to a gift, an innate sensibility and sensitivity. Ultimately, artists develop their own palette…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/color-like-everything-else-concerning-visual-expression-usually-boils/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [The voice will always be heard, even if the song is very different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/the-voice-will-always-be-heard-even-if-the-song-is-very-different/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [I paint with a language I can call my own... it takes a ruthless honesty with oneself. If one admires or is influenced by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/i-paint-with-a-language-i-can-call-my-own-it-takes-a-ruthless-honesty/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [Self-deceit is a most damaging trait. The remedy, for an artist, is to paint a self-portrait!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/self-deceit-is-a-most-damaging-trait-the-remedy-for-an-artist-is-to/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [Let us not forget that group of self-taught, outsider artists who never stepped foot in any classroom and cared less about even exhibiting, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/let-us-not-forget-that-group-of-self-taught-outsider-artists-who/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [No amount of virtuosic skill and choice of subject matter can be a substitute for depth and poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/no-amount-of-virtuosic-skill-and-choice-of-subject-matter-can-be-a/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [The art business is a rarified business and appeals to an audience capable of spending money on a luxury. 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A degree and diligence is not a guarantee that one can become an 'artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/becoming-an-artist-cannot-be-taught-a-degree-and-diligence-is-not-a/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [The art which speaks to a universal audience concerns itself with the 'big' questions of life and death, and delivers its message with unrelenting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/the-art-which-speaks-to-a-universal-audience-concerns-itself-with-the/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [Preconceived notions and rules are antithetical to the creative process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/preconceived-notions-and-rules-are-antithetical-to-the-creative/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) > [I don't think it's wise to manufacture a painting, just for the sake of working... if the impulse isn't truly there, the painting will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-kahn/i-don-t-think-it-s-wise-to-manufacture-a-painting-just-for-the-sake/) [Scott Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) [Explore all 16 Scott Kahn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-kahn/) ## 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. 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