--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Seldom was blue for blue's sake present…" description: "\"“Seldom was blue for blue's sake present till Pollock hurled pigment at his canvas like pies.”\" — William H. Gass" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/william-h-gass-4166_artist_seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present_986262.png" --- # Seldom was blue for blue's sake present till Pollock… ![“Seldom was blue for blue's sake present till Pollock hurled pigment at his canvas like pies.” quote by William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/william-h-gass-4166_artist_seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present_986262.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/william-h-gass-4166_artist_seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present_986262.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/william-h-gass-4166_artist_seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present_986262.png) > ““Seldom was blue for blue's sake present till Pollock hurled pigment at his canvas like pies.”” [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Abstract art historically valued for its own sake, but Pollock's bold style redefined its purpose. **In simple terms:** Pollock changed how we see abstract art. Key Takeaway Recognize how innovation reshapes artistic meaning. Themes art innovation perception Mood analytical thoughtful Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - museum curation - art education - creative practice Key Concepts aesthetics art history Questions to Reflect On - What defines true artistic value? - How does boldness affect interpretation? A Different Perspective Abstract art can become commercialized, losing depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) ## Related quotes > [I like a canvas to breathe and be alive. Be alive is the point. And, as the limitations are something called pigment and canvas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-krasner/i-like-a-canvas-to-breathe-and-be-alive-be-alive-is-the-point-and-as/) [Lee Krasner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-krasner/) > [It's impossible in our postmodern era for anyone to be original - for anybody to do what Jackson Pollock did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-sandler/it-s-impossible-in-our-postmodern-era-for-anyone-to-be-original-for/) Irving Sandler > [I love Francis Bacon. I just saw a great Jackson Pollock exhibit at the Dallas Museum when I was home for Thanksgiving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wilson/i-love-francis-bacon-i-just-saw-a-great-jackson-pollock-exhibit-at/) [Owen Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wilson/) > [“It was in a swampy village on the lagoon river behind the Turner Peninsula that Pollock's first encounter with the Porroh man occurred. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/it-was-in-a-swampy-village-on-the-lagoon-river-behind-the-turner/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [Just as Pollock used the drip to meld process and product, Richter 'found' and used the smudge and the blur to ravish the eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/just-as-pollock-used-the-drip-to-meld-process-and-product-richter/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [It can be a work by Mondrian, a piece of music by Schönberg or Mozart, a painting by Leonardo, Barnett Newman or also Jackson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/it-can-be-a-work-by-mondrian-a-piece-of-music-by-sch-nberg-or-mozart/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [I think there's a real problem if you're making a film - some people have done whether it be about Jackson Pollock or about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-webber/i-think-there-s-a-real-problem-if-you-re-making-a-film-some-people/) [Peter Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-webber/) > [The significant element that is common to Rivera, Siqueros, Picasso, Pollock, Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo is the expression of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-cannon/the-significant-element-that-is-common-to-rivera-siqueros-picasso/) [Billy Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-cannon/) > [If the choice is between buying another building or a Pollock, I'd go for the Pollock every time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/if-the-choice-is-between-buying-another-building-or-a-pollock-i-d-go/) [Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/) > [I know the Pollock novel. Read it last year and liked it. Daniel Woodrell is awesome. I especially like the book Winter's Bone, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-r-lansdale/i-know-the-pollock-novel-read-it-last-year-and-liked-it-daniel/) [Joe R. Lansdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-r-lansdale/) > [The 10 or 12 artists I have known really well all my life are at least as competitive as professional athletes. They may express…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/the-10-or-12-artists-i-have-known-really-well-all-my-life-are-at/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [Somebody can paint with a fine brush like Monet and do millions of little dots or somebody can splatter it up there like Kandinsky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-wilson/somebody-can-paint-with-a-fine-brush-like-monet-and-do-millions-of/) [Patrick Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-wilson/) > [As was the case in Requiem for a Dream, Pollock, A Beautiful Mind, House of Sand and Fog, The Hulk and Dark Water, Connelly's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-queenan/as-was-the-case-in-requiem-for-a-dream-pollock-a-beautiful-mind-house/) [Joe Queenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-queenan/) > [“I can't help thinking of Jackson Pollock, who poured, splattered and lashed the canvass with strings of paint. His process was about snaring not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-lieu/i-can-t-help-thinking-of-jackson-pollock-who-poured-splattered-and/) Jocelyn Lieu > [Pollock really invented something. No one painted like him - or de Kooning or Still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-lichtenstein/pollock-really-invented-something-no-one-painted-like-him-or-de/) [Roy Lichtenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-lichtenstein/) ## More by William H. Gass > [“Try to remember that artists in these catastrophic times, along with the serious scientists, are the only salvation for us, if there is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/try-to-remember-that-artists-in-these-catastrophic-times-along-with/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“If someone asks me, “Why do you write?” I can reply by pointing out that it is a very dumb question. Nevertheless, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/if-someone-asks-me-why-do-you-write-i-can-reply-by-pointing-out-that/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [The things that stayed were things that didn't matter except they stayed, night and day, all seasons the same, and were peaceful to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/the-things-that-stayed-were-things-that-didn-t-matter-except-they/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [When book and reader's furrowed brow meet, it isn't always the book that's stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/when-book-and-reader-s-furrowed-brow-meet-it-isn-t-always-the-book/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [Getting even is one reason for writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/getting-even-is-one-reason-for-writing/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“It's a simple world for her. A curtain fluttering - that's how she is - lives, moves - obediently, yet with every appearnace of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/it-s-a-simple-world-for-her-a-curtain-fluttering-that-s-how-she-is/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“I dreamed my lips would drift down your back like a skiff on a river. I'd follow a vein with the point of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/i-dreamed-my-lips-would-drift-down-your-back-like-a-skiff-on-a-river/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Yes, we call it recursive, the act of reading, of looping the loop, of continually returning to an earlier group of words, behaving like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/yes-we-call-it-recursive-the-act-of-reading-of-looping-the-loop-of/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Then let us have a language worthy of our world, a democratic style where rich and well-born nouns can roister with some sluttish verb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/then-let-us-have-a-language-worthy-of-our-world-a-democratic-style/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Excellence is inconveniently difficult.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/excellence-is-inconveniently-difficult/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [We must take our sentences seriously, which means we must understand them philosophically, and the odd thing is that the few who do, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/we-must-take-our-sentences-seriously-which-means-we-must-understand/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [We converse as we live by repeating, by combining and recombining a few elements over and over again just as nature does when of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/we-converse-as-we-live-by-repeating-by-combining-and-recombining-a/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Why were they whining then?...whining, damn them, whining… Because they’d have to give up their hope of living like an animal and return to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/why-were-they-whining-then-whining-damn-them-whining-because-they-d/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [Sports, politics, and religion are the three passions of the badly educated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/sports-politics-and-religion-are-the-three-passions-of-the-badly/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [“Then Jethro Furber wondered whether Omensetter wasn't an actor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/then-jethro-furber-wondered-whether-omensetter-wasn-t-an-actor/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) [Explore all 115 William H. Gass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“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 > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [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 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/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Seldom was blue for blue's sake present till Pollock hurled pigment at his canvas like pies.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William H. Gass" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present-till-pollock-hurled-pigment/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present-till-pollock-hurled-pigment/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/william-h-gass-4166_artist_seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present_986262.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/william-h-gass-4166_artist_seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present_986262.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/william-h-gass-4166_artist_seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present_986262.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Seldom was blue for blue's sake present till Pollock hurled pigment at his canvas like pies.” — William H. Gass", "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": "William H. Gass", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Seldom was blue for blue's sake...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present-till-pollock-hurled-pigment/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/seldom-was-blue-for-blue-s-sake-present-till-pollock-hurled-pigment/#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 } } ] } ```