APAD: Good artists copy, great artists steal.

 

“Good artists copy, Great artists steal” means you may not be the first to try something, but you did it so well that everyone thinks of you when they see that style. Like Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh…they may have started out copying someone else, but in the end they completely stole it. When someone becomes “great” that style is now so closely associated with them that when anyone sees it they will assume its from them.

 

The quote was a favorite of Steve Jobs but he was probably (mis)quoting Pablo Picasso who said “Lesser artists borrow; great artists steal” — who in turn might be rephrasing Igor Stravinsky, but both sayings may well originate in T. S. Eliot’s dictum: “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.” — So the origins of this quote itself is an example of great artists stealing. ;-))

 

Very few things are 100% original. And, nowadays, those few things  generally cause more confusion than interest. One example I can think of off the top of my head was "Voice of Fire" by American painter Barnett Newman in 1967.  The painting was purcahsed by the National Gallery of Canada in 1989 at a cost of $1.8 million and caused great controversy at the time. When I lived in Ottawa, we visited the gallery often. I remember standing in front of the painting and staring at it for at least 10 minutes but couldn't figure it out, other than it looked like a flag of some sort.  

 

 

 

Actually I always love art from a very young age and started drawing seriously just before the onset of the Covid pandemic.  I am, of course, not an artist, but I enjoyed drawing very much, especially if an image moved me, like this photo of then German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 

 

 

 My drawing, started from the eyes

 

 Finished drawing (40cm x 50cm)

 

 

Thanks for reading, and wish you all a good Tuesday!

 

所有跟帖： 

• Well trained artist! They stole to own. -移花接木- ♂ (194 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:01:08

• hahahaha,I think MerkelWasClose2,thusTheTitle: ThisIsSerious -最西邊的島上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:08:55

• sheWasGiving aSpeech wrt Covid on March2020. -最西邊的島上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:10:23

• A lot to like in this post! -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:28:44

• Steve Jobs: greatest artists distort(other peoples') reality -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:29:16

• he was a visionary&a slaveDriver. anInterestingCombination;) -最西邊的島上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:45:12

• Merkel: serious artists start from the eyes (great drawing!) -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:29:40

• thx!! ;-) -最西邊的島上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:39:55

• VoFire: Can't say anything interesting. So I shut up! :-))) -7grizzly- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:31:28

• it's an expensive flag, ;-)) -最西邊的島上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 10:40:59

• Wow，素描很有功底啊，層次處理得厲害！表情都畫出來啦！是用各種不同深淺型號的鉛筆畫的嗎？ -妖妖靈- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 19:11:54

• 謝謝靈美眉，那麽忙還來看！！這張畫用了兩種鉛筆，輪廓打底用HB，其它用的2B。 -最西邊的島上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/25/2024 postreply 19:19:46

• wow. 畫的非常好。除了素描，你也畫別的畫嗎？ -天邊一片白雲- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/26/2024 postreply 19:26:51

• 謝謝白雲美眉。後來學畫過水彩畫。很喜歡水彩這種媒介，流動性強很自由隨意，但覺得對初學者來說非常難掌握，所以學途遙遠哈。 -最西邊的島上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/27/2024 postreply 07:27:25

• Amazing drawing! Copy it till you steal it:) -甜蟲蟲- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/27/2024 postreply 16:16:11

• thx 甜美眉。 -最西邊的島上- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/27/2024 postreply 17:26:24