--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A work of art, so far as it is a work of…" description: "\"A work of art, so far as it is a work of art, cannot - whatever the artist's personal intention - advocate anything at all.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/susan-sontag-332_art_a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of_3083407.jpg" --- # A work of art, so far as it is a work of art, cannot… ![“A work of art, so far as it is a work of art, cannot - whatever the artist's personal intention - advocate anything at all.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/susan-sontag-332_art_a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of_3083407.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/susan-sontag-332_art_a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of_3083407.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/susan-sontag-332_art_a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of_3083407.jpg) > “A work of art, so far as it is a work of art, cannot - whatever the artist's personal intention - advocate anything at all.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art should not be forced to serve a specific agenda; its value lies in its own experience. **In simple terms:** Art stands alone, not as a tool. Key Takeaway Respect art’s autonomy. Themes art criticism interpretation autonomy Mood analytical critical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - gallery visits - art education - media analysis - personal reflection Key Concepts aesthetic theory intentional fallacy Questions to Reflect On - Should we always seek hidden messages? - Can art be truly neutral? A Different Perspective Artists may embed meaning unintentionally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-artist-677257/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-personal-1125198/) [Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intention/) [Personal Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-intention-5268884/) [Propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda/) [Work Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-art/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [You are both a work of art and an artist at work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-mcmanus/you-are-both-a-work-of-art-and-an-artist-at-work/) [Erwin McManus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-mcmanus/) > [In every work of art, the artist himself is present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/in-every-work-of-art-the-artist-himself-is-present/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [art is the most general condition of the Past in the present. ... Perhaps no work of art is art. It can only become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/art-is-the-most-general-condition-of-the-past-in-the-present-perhaps/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Our task is not to find the maximum amount of content in a work of art, mush less to squeeze more content out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/our-task-is-not-to-find-the-maximum-amount-of-content-in-a-work-of/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“An artist is someone who makes art;only artist can create a work of art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asaid/an-artist-is-someone-who-makes-art-only-artist-can-create-a-work-of/) [ASAID](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asaid/) > [Seizing new ground, making connections between people or ideas, working without a map-these are works of art, and if you do them, you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/seizing-new-ground-making-connections-between-people-or-ideas-working/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [There's a cultural conviction that any 'artist' must have personal suffering to back up their work, otherwise there's something undeserved and therefore inauthentic about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-diski/there-s-a-cultural-conviction-that-any-artist-must-have-personal/) [Jenny Diski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-diski/) > [Whatever an artist's personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/whatever-an-artist-s-personal-feelings-are-as-soon-as-an-artist-fills-2/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [I mean, for sure, from my history, I have an extreme fondness for 2D. I think it feels very hand-crafted, and you see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genndy-tartakovsky/i-mean-for-sure-from-my-history-i-have-an-extreme-fondness-for-2d-i/) [Genndy Tartakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genndy-tartakovsky/) > [When you're an artist, your personal life and your professional life kind of blend together. I'm writing from home so I don't have an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-wein/when-you-re-an-artist-your-personal-life-and-your-professional-life/) [Daryl Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-wein/) > [Whatever an artist's personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/whatever-an-artist-s-personal-feelings-are-as-soon-as-an-artist-fills/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "A work of art, so far as it is a work of art, cannot - whatever the artist's personal intention - advocate anything at all.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Sontag" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of-art-cannot-whatever-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of-art-cannot-whatever-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/susan-sontag-332_art_a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of_3083407.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/susan-sontag-332_art_a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of_3083407.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/susan-sontag-332_art_a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of_3083407.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A work of art, so far as it is a work of art, cannot - whatever the artist's personal intention - advocate…” — Susan Sontag", "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": "Susan Sontag", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A work of art, so far...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of-art-cannot-whatever-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/a-work-of-art-so-far-as-it-is-a-work-of-art-cannot-whatever-the/#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 } } ] } ```