--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One doesn't need to know the artist's…" description: "\"One doesn't need to know the artist's private intentions. The work tells all.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab2/susan-sontag-332_art_one-doesn-t-need-to-know-the-artist-s-pr_3171916.jpg" --- # One doesn't need to know the artist's private intentions… ![“One doesn't need to know the artist's private intentions. The work tells all.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab2/susan-sontag-332_art_one-doesn-t-need-to-know-the-artist-s-pr_3171916.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab2/susan-sontag-332_art_one-doesn-t-need-to-know-the-artist-s-pr_3171916.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab2/susan-sontag-332_art_one-doesn-t-need-to-know-the-artist-s-pr_3171916.jpg) > “One doesn't need to know the artist's private intentions. The work tells 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. The artwork itself conveys meaning without needing the creator's personal motives. **In simple terms:** Art speaks for itself. Key Takeaway Interpret the piece directly. Themes art criticism interpretation authorial intent Mood contemplative analytical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - museum visits - art education - gallery tours - personal reflection Key Concepts aesthetic theory semiotics Questions to Reflect On - How does knowing an artist’s background affect your view? - Can a work be truly objective? A Different Perspective Audience bias can still color perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Private](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-private-2698058/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intention/) [Know Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-artist/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Private](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private/) [Private Intentions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-intentions-5777509/) [Work Tells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-tells-1385903/) ## Related quotes > [The crucial discovery was made that, in order to become painting, the universe seen by the artist had to become a private one created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/the-crucial-discovery-was-made-that-in-order-to-become-painting-the/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [The only things that distinguish the photographer from everybody else are his pictures: they alone are the basis for our special interest in him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-only-things-that-distinguish-the-photographer-from-everybody-else/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The kind of job where you come in and work 9 to 5, and where someone tells you what to do all day is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/the-kind-of-job-where-you-come-in-and-work-9-to-5-and-where-someone/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [Better the rudest work that tells a story or records a fact, than the richest without meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/better-the-rudest-work-that-tells-a-story-or-records-a-fact-than-the/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“Your fingerprints are all over your work, and you alone know how they got there. 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If you know too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-bale/i-ve-always-felt-that-i-would-rather-see-an-actor-writer-or-musician/) [Christian Bale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-bale/) > [Here's the thing, trust changes everything. Once you know what an artist can do, and you know their commitment level, it opens up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-simone/here-s-the-thing-trust-changes-everything-once-you-know-what-an/) [Gail Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-simone/) > [When I first met Big, we were both at a 'Bad Boy' family photo shoot. I was kind of familiar with the name Biggie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-first-met-big-we-were-both-at-a-bad-boy-family-photo-shoot-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The artist himself is actually the subject in everything after, say, 1900. Eventually, art becomes so removed from the community that you have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-van-sant/the-artist-himself-is-actually-the-subject-in-everything-after-say/) [Gus Van Sant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-van-sant/) > [I don't even know what my artist name would be. Would it be Logan Paul? Would it just be Logan? I don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-paul/i-don-t-even-know-what-my-artist-name-would-be-would-it-be-logan-paul/) [Logan Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-paul/) > [As a matter of fact I don't know of one artist as long as I've been alive that they put in regular rotation in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slaine/as-a-matter-of-fact-i-don-t-know-of-one-artist-as-long-as-i-ve-been/) [Slaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slaine/) > [Work can take on a new dimension if you know something about the artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-gross/work-can-take-on-a-new-dimension-if-you-know-something-about-the/) [Terry Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-gross/) ## 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. 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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. 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