--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What the work of art looks like isn't too…" description: "\"What the work of art looks like isn't too important.\" — Sol LeWitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ce/sol-lewitt-11839_art_what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-to_3220645.jpg" --- # What the work of art looks like isn't too important. ![“What the work of art looks like isn't too important.” quote by Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ce/sol-lewitt-11839_art_what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-to_3220645.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ce/sol-lewitt-11839_art_what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-to_3220645.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ce/sol-lewitt-11839_art_what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-to_3220645.jpg) > “What the work of art looks like isn't too important.” [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The visual appearance of art matters less than its underlying ideas and processes. **In simple terms:** Idea matters more than looks. Key Takeaway Focus on concept, not just aesthetics. Themes art conceptualism process minimalism Mood thoughtful introspective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - gallery installations - public murals - educational workshops Key Concepts visual language idea generation materiality Questions to Reflect On - How does the process shape your perception of a piece? - Can a work be successful without visual appeal? A Different Perspective Conceptual depth can be hard for audiences to grasp without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [What the work of art looks like isn't too important. It has to look like something if it has a physical form. No matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-too-important-it-has-to-look/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [“When, as a woman, you make yourself the work of art, and when you are then what everyone looks at, then whatever else, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/when-as-a-woman-you-make-yourself-the-work-of-art-and-when-you-are/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [All art is an individual's expression of a culture. Cultures differ, so art looks different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-glassie/all-art-is-an-individual-s-expression-of-a-culture-cultures-differ-so/) Henry Glassie > [Pop Art looks out into the world. It doesnt look like a painting of something, it looks like the thing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lichtenstein/pop-art-looks-out-into-the-world-it-doesnt-look-like-a-painting-of/) [Roy Lichtenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lichtenstein/) > [I think that a lot of artists have succeeded in making what I might call "curator's art." Everybody's being accepted, and I always want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/i-think-that-a-lot-of-artists-have-succeeded-in-making-what-i-might/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [All profoundly original art looks ugly at first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/all-profoundly-original-art-looks-ugly-at-first/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [Such a divine profession is art! When everything else looks so stale and disgustingly vacuous, so enthralls even the littlest real effort of art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-mendelssohn/such-a-divine-profession-is-art-when-everything-else-looks-so-stale/) [Felix Mendelssohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-mendelssohn/) > [Outside is the world; it's there. Pop Art looks out into the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lichtenstein/outside-is-the-world-it-s-there-pop-art-looks-out-into-the-world/) [Roy Lichtenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lichtenstein/) > [What interests me is to paint the kind of antisensitivity that impregnates modern civilization. I think art since Cezanne has become extremely romantic and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lichtenstein/what-interests-me-is-to-paint-the-kind-of-antisensitivity-that/) [Roy Lichtenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lichtenstein/) > [Pop Art looks out into the world. It doesn't look like a painting of something, it looks like the thing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lichtenstein/pop-art-looks-out-into-the-world-it-doesn-t-look-like-a-painting-of/) [Roy Lichtenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lichtenstein/) > [Good art looks new because the artist has recombined something old to make something better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-darby-bannard/good-art-looks-new-because-the-artist-has-recombined-something-old-to/) [Walter Darby Bannard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-darby-bannard/) > [Mystery is the essential element of every work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-bunuel/mystery-is-the-essential-element-of-every-work-of-art/) [Luis Bunuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-bunuel/) > [Art goes on in your head. If you said something interesting, that might be a title for a work of art and I'd write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/art-goes-on-in-your-head-if-you-said-something-interesting-that-might/) [Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/) > [The ultimate justification of the work of art is to help the spectator to become a work of art himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/the-ultimate-justification-of-the-work-of-art-is-to-help-the/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) ## More by Sol LeWitt > [New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art. Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/new-materials-are-one-of-the-great-afflictions-of-contemporary-art/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [The artist is seen like a producer of commodities, like a factory that turns our refrigerators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/the-artist-is-seen-like-a-producer-of-commodities-like-a-factory-that/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/most-ideas-that-are-successful-are-ludicrously-simple-successful/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Artists teach critics what to think. Critics repeat what the artists teach them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/artists-teach-critics-what-to-think-critics-repeat-what-the-artists/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [In my case, I used the elements of these simple forms - square, cube, line and color - to produce logical systems. Most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/in-my-case-i-used-the-elements-of-these-simple-forms-square-cube-line/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Conceptual art became the liberating idea that gave the art of the next 40 years its real impetus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/conceptual-art-became-the-liberating-idea-that-gave-the-art-of-the/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [The narrative of serial art works more like music than like literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/the-narrative-of-serial-art-works-more-like-music-than-like-literature/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Just as the development of earth art and installation art stemmed from the idea of taking art out of the galleries, the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/just-as-the-development-of-earth-art-and-installation-art-stemmed/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I didn't want to save art - I respected the older artists too much to think art needed saving. But I knew it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-didn-t-want-to-save-art-i-respected-the-older-artists-too-much-to/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [One should be intelligent enough to know when not to be too intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/one-should-be-intelligent-enough-to-know-when-not-to-be-too/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I wasn't really that interested in objects. I was interested in ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-wasn-t-really-that-interested-in-objects-i-was-interested-in-ideas/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Your work isn't a high stakes, nail-biting professional challenge. It's a form of play. Lighten up and have fun with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/your-work-isn-t-a-high-stakes-nail-biting-professional-challenge-it-s/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [All of the significant art of today stems from Conceptual art. This includes the art of installation, political, feminist and socially directed art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/all-of-the-significant-art-of-today-stems-from-conceptual-art-this/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [A work of art may be understood as a conductor from the artist's mind to the viewer's. But it may never reach the viewer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/a-work-of-art-may-be-understood-as-a-conductor-from-the-artist-s-mind/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-to-emphasize-the-primacy-of/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) [Explore all 57 Sol LeWitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) ## 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": "What the work of art looks like isn't too important.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sol LeWitt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-too-important/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-too-important/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ce/sol-lewitt-11839_art_what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-to_3220645.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ce/sol-lewitt-11839_art_what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-to_3220645.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ce/sol-lewitt-11839_art_what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-to_3220645.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What the work of art looks like isn't too important.” — Sol LeWitt", "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": "Sol LeWitt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What the work of art looks...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-too-important/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/what-the-work-of-art-looks-like-isn-t-too-important/#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 } } ] } ```