--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art never seems to make me peaceful or…" description: "\"Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure. I always seem to be wrapped in the melodrama of vulgarity. I do not think... of art as a situation of comf..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_art-never-seems-to-make-me-peaceful-or-p_2234699.jpg" --- # Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure. I always seem… ![“Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure. I always seem to be wrapped in the melodrama of vulgarity. I do not think... of art as a situation of comfort.” quote by Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_art-never-seems-to-make-me-peaceful-or-p_2234699.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_art-never-seems-to-make-me-peaceful-or-p_2234699.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_art-never-seems-to-make-me-peaceful-or-p_2234699.jpg) > “Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure. I always seem to be wrapped in the melodrama of vulgarity. I do not think... of art as a situation of comfort.” [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art is portrayed as chaotic and lacking serenity, emphasizing its raw, dramatic nature over comfort. **In simple terms:** Art feels chaotic, not calming. Key Takeaway Accept art’s messiness as part of its power. Themes art chaos authenticity Mood reflective introspective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - gallery visits - creative workshops - personal reflection - art criticism Key Concepts existentialism aesthetic theory Questions to Reflect On - Do you seek comfort or truth in art? - How does drama shape your perception of art? A Different Perspective Art may still fail to soothe those seeking peace. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-situation-5040853/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Make Peaceful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-peaceful-736077/) [Melodrama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/melodrama/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Peaceful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peaceful/) [Pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situation/) [Think Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-art/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Vulgarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulgarity/) [Vulgarity Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vulgarity-think-5040852/) ## Related quotes > [Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/art-never-seems-to-make-me-peaceful-or-pure/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [There IS something that each of us can do to help create PEACE in the world, and that is to make yourself peaceful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/there-is-something-that-each-of-us-can-do-to-help-create-peace-in-the/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) > [I'm extremely grateful that I found writing, but it doesn't make it any more peaceful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-shepard/i-m-extremely-grateful-that-i-found-writing-but-it-doesn-t-make-it/) [Sam Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-shepard/) > [This country will not be a peaceful place for us to live if we do not make it to be a peaceful place with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/this-country-will-not-be-a-peaceful-place-for-us-to-live-if-we-do-not-2/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [“Arise my friend, Awake my friend and work for humanity, not to make it sophisticated, but to make it peaceful first.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/arise-my-friend-awake-my-friend-and-work-for-humanity-not-to-make-it/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We can make this a more peaceful century if we cherish non-violence and concern for others’ well-being. It is possible. If the individual is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/we-can-make-this-a-more-peaceful-century-if-we-cherish-non-violence/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Meditation isn't just something we do to make ourselves more peaceful and to take some of the stress out of our lives. We do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/meditation-isn-t-just-something-we-do-to-make-ourselves-more-peaceful/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“This country will not be a peaceful place for us to live if we do not make it to be a peaceful place with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/this-country-will-not-be-a-peaceful-place-for-us-to-live-if-we-do-not/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [In drama, the characters should determine the story. In melodrama, the story determines the characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-lumet/in-drama-the-characters-should-determine-the-story-in-melodrama-the/) [Sidney Lumet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-lumet/) > [For the broadcast business to be successful, viewers need to be not merely interested in our political melodramas, they have to be in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/for-the-broadcast-business-to-be-successful-viewers-need-to-be-not/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [I wanted to make an album that would make other people feel the way I felt listening to 'Melodrama.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maisie-peters/i-wanted-to-make-an-album-that-would-make-other-people-feel-the-way-i/) [Maisie Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maisie-peters/) > [I tend to avoid melodrama. I try to create very realistic settings and very realistic experiences and realistic responses to these experiences. Melodrama is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/i-tend-to-avoid-melodrama-i-try-to-create-very-realistic-settings-and/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [As so often, a political event involving Donald Trump looks like swinging wildly between melodrama and farce. The Republican National Convention in Cleveland has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-colvin/as-so-often-a-political-event-involving-donald-trump-looks-like/) [Mark Colvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-colvin/) > [Fighting your ego is a melodrama of the ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/fighting-your-ego-is-a-melodrama-of-the-ego/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [A lot of '20s musicals were a hodgepodge of melodrama, mixed with operetta and romance, and then some sense of modernism and some sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-wolfe/a-lot-of-20s-musicals-were-a-hodgepodge-of-melodrama-mixed-with/) [George C. Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-wolfe/) ## More by Willem de Kooning > [The texture of experience is prior to everything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/the-texture-of-experience-is-prior-to-everything-else/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [Art should not have to be a certain way,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/art-should-not-have-to-be-a-certain-way/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [I think I'm painting a picture of two women but it may turn out to be a landscape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-think-i-m-painting-a-picture-of-two-women-but-it-may-turn-out-to-be/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [Im not someone whos ever said anything definitive about his work. In my life also I have very little fixed form. I can change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/im-not-someone-whos-ever-said-anything-definitive-about-his-work-in/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [Style is a fraud. I always felt the Greeks were hiding behind their columns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/style-is-a-fraud-i-always-felt-the-greeks-were-hiding-behind-their/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [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/) > [The idea of space is given to the artist to change if he can. The subject matter in the abstract is space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/the-idea-of-space-is-given-to-the-artist-to-change-if-he-can-the/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [If I stretch my arms and wonder where my fingers are - that is all the space I need as a painter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/if-i-stretch-my-arms-and-wonder-where-my-fingers-are-that-is-all-the/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [The artist fills space with an attitude. The attitude never comes from himself alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/the-artist-fills-space-with-an-attitude-the-attitude-never-comes-from/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/flesh-was-the-reason-why-oil-painting-was-invented/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [I feel sometimes an American artist must feel, like a baseball player or something - a member of a team writing American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-feel-sometimes-an-american-artist-must-feel-like-a-baseball-player/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [Maybe in that earlier phase I was painting the woman in me. Art isn't a wholly masculine occupation, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/maybe-in-that-earlier-phase-i-was-painting-the-woman-in-me-art-isn-t/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [Yes, I am influenced by everbody. But every time I put my hands in my pockets I find someone else's fingers there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/yes-i-am-influenced-by-everbody-but-every-time-i-put-my-hands-in-my/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [I'd like to get all the colors in the world into one painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-d-like-to-get-all-the-colors-in-the-world-into-one-painting/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [Spiritually I am wherever my spirit allows me to be, and that is not necessarily in the future... Art never seems to make me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/spiritually-i-am-wherever-my-spirit-allows-me-to-be-and-that-is-not/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) [Explore all 54 Willem de Kooning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) ## 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": "Art never seems to make me peaceful or pure. 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