--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The word 'abstract' comes from the light…" description: "\"The word 'abstract' comes from the light tower of the philosophers. One of their spotlights that they have particularly focused on 'Art'. [Abstraction ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df9/willem-de-kooning-12563_abstract_the-word-abstract-comes-from-the-light-t_1161081.jpg" --- # The word 'abstract' comes from the light tower of the… ![“The word 'abstract' comes from the light tower of the philosophers. One of their spotlights that they have particularly focused on 'Art'. [Abstraction was] not so much what you could paint but rather what you could not paint. You could not paint a house or a tree or a mountain. It was then that…” quote by Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df9/willem-de-kooning-12563_abstract_the-word-abstract-comes-from-the-light-t_1161081.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df9/willem-de-kooning-12563_abstract_the-word-abstract-comes-from-the-light-t_1161081.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df9/willem-de-kooning-12563_abstract_the-word-abstract-comes-from-the-light-t_1161081.jpg) > “The word 'abstract' comes from the light tower of the philosophers. One of their spotlights that they have particularly focused on 'Art'. \[Abstraction was\] not so much what you could paint but rather what you could not paint. You could not paint a house or a tree or a mountain. It was then that subject matter came into existence as something you ought not have.” [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. Abstraction shifts focus from depicting objects to expressing the unpaintable, redefining subject matter. **In simple terms:** Art can express what cannot be shown. Key Takeaway Embrace the unseen in creativity. Themes art abstraction creativity philosophy Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - painting - design - education - critical analysis Key Concepts conceptual art visual language Questions to Reflect On - How does abstraction affect your perception? - What emotions arise from unseen subjects? A Different Perspective Abstract art may alienate viewers seeking realism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Abstract Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract-comes-2192638/) [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Abstraction Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction-paint-3323697/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-abstraction-1409346/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/house/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paint/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Spotlight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spotlight/) [Subject matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subject-matter/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) [Towers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towers/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Word Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-abstract-1644466/) ## Related quotes > [What I mean by 'abstract' is something which comes to life spontaneously through a gamut of contrasts, plastic at the same time as psychic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-chagall/what-i-mean-by-abstract-is-something-which-comes-to-life/) [Marc Chagall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-chagall/) > [“I want to be a word. I would be abstract with an inscrutable ending.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-moschovakis/i-want-to-be-a-word-i-would-be-abstract-with-an-inscrutable-ending/) [Anna Moschovakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-moschovakis/) > [A hint - don't paint too much direct from nature. Art is an abstraction! study nature then brood on it and treasure the creation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/a-hint-don-t-paint-too-much-direct-from-nature-art-is-an-abstraction/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Do not copy nature. Art is an abstraction. Rather, bring your art forth by dreaming in front of her and think more of creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/do-not-copy-nature-art-is-an-abstraction-rather-bring-your-art-forth/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Do not copy nature too much. Art is an abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/do-not-copy-nature-too-much-art-is-an-abstraction/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [All art is an abstraction to some degree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-moore/all-art-is-an-abstraction-to-some-degree/) [Henry Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-moore/) > [Seek art and abstraction in nature by dreaming in the presence of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/seek-art-and-abstraction-in-nature-by-dreaming-in-the-presence-of-it/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [“Don't paint from nature too much. Art is an abstraction. Derive this abstraction from nature while dreaming before it, and think more of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/don-t-paint-from-nature-too-much-art-is-an-abstraction-derive-this/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Willem de Kooning is generally credited for coming out of the painterly gates strong in the forties, revolutionizing art and abstraction and reaching incredible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/willem-de-kooning-is-generally-credited-for-coming-out-of-the/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [All art is abstract, because art is an abstraction of the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milford-zornes/all-art-is-abstract-because-art-is-an-abstraction-of-the-truth/) [Milford Zornes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milford-zornes/) > [A bit of advice, don't copy nature too closely. Art is an abstraction; as you dream amid nature, extrapolate art from it, and concentrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/a-bit-of-advice-don-t-copy-nature-too-closely-art-is-an-abstraction/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Every work of art is an abstraction from time; it denies the reality of change and decay and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/every-work-of-art-is-an-abstraction-from-time-it-denies-the-reality/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [It took me twenty years to get Steven Parrino's work. From the time I first saw his art, in the mid-eighties, I almost always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/it-took-me-twenty-years-to-get-steven-parrino-s-work-from-the-time-i/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [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/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) ## 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 Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The word 'abstract' comes from the light tower of the philosophers. One of their spotlights that they have particularly focused on 'Art'. [Abstraction was] not so much what you could paint but rather what you could not paint. You could not paint a house or a tree or a mountain. 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