--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I make pictures and someone comes in and…" description: "\"I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art.\" — Willem de Kooning" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and_1949542.jpg" --- # I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art. ![“I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art.” quote by Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and_1949542.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and_1949542.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and_1949542.jpg) > “I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art.” [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. The speaker notes that labeling something as art often depends on external validation rather than intrinsic value. **In simple terms:** Art is defined by others' judgments. Key Takeaway Seek personal meaning beyond labels. Themes art validation perception Mood reflective critical Type philosophical contemplative When to use this quote - gallery openings - creative workshops - social media posts Key Concepts subjectivity cultural context Questions to Reflect On - How does external approval shape your creative confidence? - Can you define art without audience feedback? A Different Perspective Artistic value can be subjective and fluctuate over time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Calls Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calls-art-3154764/) [Comes Calls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-calls-2032967/) [Make Pictures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-pictures/) [Pictures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pictures/) [Pictures Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pictures-comes-3154765/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not looking at any stage stuff at all. I'm going to give that a break for a while, if not forever, because I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-hawthorne/i-m-not-looking-at-any-stage-stuff-at-all-i-m-going-to-give-that-a/) [Nigel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-hawthorne/) > [Pressure comes when someone calls on you to perform a task for which you are unprepared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-la-russa/pressure-comes-when-someone-calls-on-you-to-perform-a-task-for-which/) [Tony La Russa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-la-russa/) > [I am just trying to find a way to make pictures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/i-am-just-trying-to-find-a-way-to-make-pictures/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [It is the spectators who make the pictures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/it-is-the-spectators-who-make-the-pictures/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I like to make pictures about people who make a difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-bruckheimer/i-like-to-make-pictures-about-people-who-make-a-difference/) [Jerry Bruckheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-bruckheimer/) > [I try to make pictures I would want to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/i-try-to-make-pictures-i-would-want-to-see/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [I will only make pictures that I won't be ashamed to have my children see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-b-mayer/i-will-only-make-pictures-that-i-won-t-be-ashamed-to-have-my-children/) [Louis B. Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-b-mayer/) > [I sometimes make pictures which are not up to my standard, but then it can only be said of a mediocrity that all his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-lubitsch/i-sometimes-make-pictures-which-are-not-up-to-my-standard-but-then-it/) [Ernst Lubitsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-lubitsch/) > [My aim in life is to make pictures and drawings, as many and as well as I can; then, at the end of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/my-aim-in-life-is-to-make-pictures-and-drawings-as-many-and-as-well/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Photography is a very forgiving medium. Anybody that can afford film and a camera can make pictures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-walker/photography-is-a-very-forgiving-medium-anybody-that-can-afford-film/) [Todd Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-walker/) > [My eyes make pictures when they are shut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/my-eyes-make-pictures-when-they-are-shut/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [You should never use the camera to make your pictures. You use yourself, your experience to make the picture with the camera. Not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-kratochvil/you-should-never-use-the-camera-to-make-your-pictures-you-use/) [Antonin Kratochvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-kratochvil/) > [We make pictures. At the end of the day, we create something potentially significant that did not exist at the beginning of the day.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-mcnally/we-make-pictures-at-the-end-of-the-day-we-create-something/) [Joe McNally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-mcnally/) > [If you need to do a movie where you have an army of 10,000 soldiers, that's a very difficult thing to shoot for real.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-knoll/if-you-need-to-do-a-movie-where-you-have-an-army-of-10-000-soldiers/) [John Knoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-knoll/) > [The thing that makes me want to make pictures now is just looking without many prejudices. The stuff right under your eyes is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abelardo-morell/the-thing-that-makes-me-want-to-make-pictures-now-is-just-looking/) [Abelardo Morell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abelardo-morell/) ## 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": "I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Willem de Kooning" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and-calls-it-art/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and-calls-it-art/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and_1949542.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and_1949542.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d8/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and_1949542.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art.” — Willem de Kooning", "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": "Willem de Kooning", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I make pictures and someone comes...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and-calls-it-art/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-make-pictures-and-someone-comes-in-and-calls-it-art/#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 } } ] } ```