VISUAL ART HISTORY by modern ARTISTS QUOTES
- for ART education - teachers - students
A visual art history of modern art, by quotes of the artists; for art education: teachers, students & scholars
The famous modern visual artists - painters, sculptors - are presented here with their sourced art quotes, concepts, statements and biography facts.
Together the artist’s quotes represent a Modern Art History, from the artist’s point of view.
Because we think these collections of well sourced artists quotes are useful material for art education - teachers as well as students - we collected these quotes with good sources, with many interlinks to the descriptions of modern art movements.
To give an expression to the strong interconnections and exchanges of ideas and comments between artists, we made many links between the artists themselves in their quotes and texts. . In next years the descriptions of the art movements in quotes will be enlarged
These sourced quotes illustrate in our opinion the ‘World of Art’ in which artists live, think, exchange and create. We hope you will enjoy them.
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Why collecting quotes of the famous artists, to present a History of Modern Art for art education: young artists, teachers and students?
These artist’s quotes, comments, ideas and concepts have been collected and selected by me during many years; together their quotes embody an alternative history of modern art, spoken / written by the artists themselves. Most quotes, concepts and comments date from between 1800 – 2000. We believe they are useful in art education, as well as for young starting artists.
As Dutch artist-duo ‘Benfo’ ( Ben Vollers & Fons Heijnsbroek ) from Amsterdam we were studying these famous artist’s quotes to improve our own self-education in art. We frequently used their quotes in discussing and criticizing our own art. Soon we got the idea that the artist’s quotes could be useful for other artists as well, in fact for all people interested in or fascinated by the history and artists of modern art. For quotes of the artist him- or herself give us a look into the ‘Kitchen of art’. They are very close to the creative work itself and provide us with a colorful history of the visual arts.
We hope you will enjoy these pages. If you have any comment or suggestions for a better use in art education, please MAIL us here.
My start in collecting artist’s quotes, concepts and comments
Fons Heijnsbroek
It was around 2002 that for the first time I heard about Jacob Bendien, a Dutch artist living and working in Amsterdam who also reflected a lot of his time on contemporary art history in Europe. He died young from tuberculosis around 1933 in Amsterdam Jacob Bendien as a Dutch artist is not very well-known nowadays and even his work is rather unknown to most people, even in the Netherlands. We are happy that in coming years there will be an exhibition of Bendien’s art in the museum of Arnhem, the Netherlands.
I was then told that Jacob Bendien had had a great influence on other contemporary artists and art critics as for instance Hammacher. At first I couldn’t believe this because the name of Jacob Bendien was so unfamiliar to me, being an artist myself, and also to the artists I knew in Amsterdam. Then I heard of a biography on the life of Hammacher, a famous Dutch art-critic, written by Peter de Ruiter (art history teacher in Groningen University - ten years he worked on it, a hell of a job!!) and I read this book. It taught me a lot about the artistic practice in the Netherlands before World War 2 and the decades after it. But most important: I read about Jacob Bendien and he was an inspirational figure indeed for many important Dutch artists and art critics. Bendien had a unbelievable clear view on his contemporary art and on the many art movements which developed since 1880 as for instance Futurism, Dada, Cubism, famous and important artists as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Piet Mondrian, Hans Arp, Kandinsky, etc. whom he liked to quote frequently in his later publications. Here was the birth of modern art, which started with Impressionism and Paul Cézanne and Bendien was a witness to all of this, a contemporary of the artists themselves!
Bendien’s view on art history and his use of quotes of artists in modern art
So Bendien lived and worked in Paris around 1913, as many young Dutch artists and Mondrian and Picasso did at that time.There Bendien saw early Cubism exhibited in the art galleries and discussed with fellow-artists about such subjects as ‘abstract’ art, which was rather modern in those days.
After reading Hammacher’s biography I started to read the only complete book Bendien wrote on modern art (published after his death): “Richtingen in de Hedendaagsche Schilderkunst”, (= “Trends in Contemporary Painting Arts”), W.L. & J. Brusse N.V. Rotterdam, The Netherlands, MCMXXXV (= 1935). The first thing that pleased me very much: Bendien offered a lot of artist’s quotes and biography notes in his modern art history, integrated in his texts. Furthermore, he arranged his information on art and artists in a very clear and modern way, both connected as in a texture. He distinguished and compared all modern art movements very vividly. I noticed by his descriptions of the new art movements that Bendien was part of them, together with all the other artists. Now I realized very clearly that the artist in his or her work is first of all participating in life, real life.
Despite his firm arrangement of the material on the new arts and artists Bendien gave also a lot of fine texture between them. He was unbelievable keen on showing the interrelations between the art movements and illustrating these with quotes and facts. He quotes in his book all kinds of connections between the modern art movements and the artists who participated in them. SoCubism is debating with Futurism, and with Dada; Constructivism in its turn is in discussion with the artist painter Bendien himself, and with the subtle Suprematism artist Kazimir Malevich.
Bendien, himself an artist, was ‘discussing in pictures’ a lot with Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg (De Stijl), probably because they were very close to his own art conceptions, but at the same time very different because Bendien wanted to retain an emotionally recognizable figuration in his own drawings and paintings.
When Bendien got very weak because of his tuberculosis during the last years of his short life, he stayed in Amsterdam and the people who took care of him brought new paintings of Mondrian fresh from Paris. Lying in his bed Bendien could study the still smelling Mondrian’s oil paintings and he could notice every detail in them. He looked for hours on end! When people like art critic Hammacher came to visit him, Bendien taught his ‘pupils’ (several were art history teachers) how to study closely and carefully the paintings of Mondriaan and other artists. He taught them how to look at the material, constructive, compositional and spiritual layers all as a whole. I am convinced that Bendien was the artist in the Netherlands those days who had the most complete understanding of Mondrian. he even defended him against the harsh and rude theorist Mondrian with his many ‘absolute’ theories and concepts. Bendien had a very independent opinion, so he also criticized the artist Mondrian and recognized very sharply the limitations and choices of Mondrian and Van Doesburg in the rather absolute abstract ‘Stijl’ Movement.
Bendien tought me how to discover good artist’s quotations in Modern art
Bendien had a broad view on modern art history and the new art movements. He appreciated most of them because of their typical character which he described by means of the many quotations from the new art movements in their manifests and written or spoken by the artists belonging to them. So I found the first important quotes but didn’t know I would start to collect them within a few years myself. What I gradually realized was that I wanted to share with others my experiences with Bendien; Bendien’s book was old, and no reprint was available. So I decided to select typical quotes from his texts by which I wanted to portray every modern art movement. I already published them in Dutch on a new Dutch art website ‘DeKunsten’ (TheArts), which is used frequently by young students and teachers in art history. We have started to translate them in proper English, as you can see on this website in the right menu.
By selecting these quotes I realized how powerful art quotes can be as revelation of the roots of modern art history, but also how delicate this work is. How long has the quote to be? How general must it be or how many details has it to contain, to stay alive? And here I discovered the energy of the artist’s quotes for the first time and got attracted by them more and more. For instance – being an abstract painter myself – I was very touched by the way Kandinsky described in his biography quoted by Bendien how he– already an experienced painter– discovered his first ‘abstract’ painting when he came home one night. He found one of his recent paintings standing on the floor, with its back to the wall. but upside down. So he couldn’t recognize his own painting. And he loved it! He saw ‘Abstract’ art for the first time in his life and he knew he had hit upon something completely new. This was an unbelievable important moment in the history of modern art, ‘just by accident’. That kind of artist quotes are I think like stars or diamonds. Or take for example the moment that the old Mondrian in New York saw the abstract early paintings of Lee Krasner and recognized in her an important abstract painter. Or take Willem de Kooning, working a whole year already to accomplish his first ‘Woman’ painting, but not being able to finish it. And there Sapiro, a famous art history teacher, visits his studio. Nobody knows what the two were talking about. But one day later ‘The woman’ was finished! Many more ‘Women’ followed soon. What were they talking about? Nobody knows, but it worked! The first ‘Woman’ painting was finished in the next day and others followed quickly; their appearance in the New York art scene resulted in intensive debates among the artists of the New York School.
Fons Heijnsbroek
* images of Jacob Bendien’s art on Google
* Bendien’s art in Central Museum, Utrecht
Why presenting famous artist with their quotes about art and life
These artist’s quotes, concepts, comments and ideas have been collected and edited for several years; together they illustrate the history and life of artists in modern art, spoken or written by the artist’s themselves. Most quotes and comments are made between 1800 – 2000.
As Dutch modern artist myself and painting in the artist duo ‘Benfo’ ( Ben Vollers & Fons Heijnsbroek ) from Amsterdam, I and my artist friends were reading and using famous artist’s quotes as inspiration and to improve our understanding of modern art. We frequently used the artist quotes in discussing and criticizing our own art. Soon we got the idea that these artist quotes could be inspirational to other artists or for art students and teachers in art education as well’; in fact for all people fascinated by visual art history and the artists in modern art. The quotes of the artist him or herself, they really give us a look into the ‘Kitchen of art’. They are very close connected to life, inspiration and to the creative force itself; they give us an animated view in the history of visual arts.
We hope you will enjoy these pages. If you have comment or suggestions for a better use in art education, please MAIL us here.
My start in collecting artist’s quotes and quotations about their life and art
Fons Heijnsbroek
It was around 2002 that for the first time I heard about Jacob Bendien, a Dutch artist living and working in Amsterdam who also reflected a lot on contemporary art history in Europe during his life. He died young from tuberculosis around 1933 in Amsterdam Jacob Bendien as a Dutch artist is not very well-known nowadays and even his work is rather unknown to most people, even in the Netherlands. We are happy that in coming years there will be an exhibition of Bendien’s art in the museum of Arnhem, the Netherlands.
I was then told that Jacob Bendien was very inspirational for contemporary artists and art critics around him as for instance the Dutch art critic Hammacher. At first I couldn’t believe this because the name of Jacob Bendien was so unfamiliar to me, being an artist myself, and also to the artists I knew in Amsterdam. Then I heard of a biography on the life of Hammacher, a famous Dutch art-critic, written by Peter de Ruiter (art history teacher in Groningen University - ten years he worked on it, a hell of a job!!) and I read this book. It taught me a lot about the artistic practice in the Netherlands before World War 2 and the decades after it. But most important: I read about Jacob Bendien and he was an inspirational art figure indeed for many important Dutch artists and art critics during his life. Bendien had a very clear view on his contemporary art and on the many art movements which developed since 1880 as for instance Futurism, Dada, Cubism, famous and important artists as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Piet Mondrian, Hans Arp, Kandinsky, etc. whom he liked to quote frequently in his later publications. Here was the birth of modern art, which started with Impressionism and Paul Cézanne and Bendien was a witness to all of this, a contemporary of the artists themselves!
Bendien’s view on art history and his use of life quotes of artists in modern art
So Bendien lived and worked in Paris around 1913, as many young Dutch artists and Mondrian and Picasso did at that time. Paris was very inspirational for young artists. There Bendien saw early Cubism exhibited in the art galleries and he discussed with fellow-artists about such subjects as ‘abstract’ art, which was rather modern in those days.
I started to read the only complete book Bendien wrote about modern art (published after his death): “Richtingen in de Hedendaagsche Schilderkunst”, (= “Trends in Contemporary Painting Arts”), W.L. & J. Brusse N.V. Rotterdam, The Netherlands, MCMXXXV (= 1935). The first thing that pleased me very much: Bendien offered a lot of artist’s quotes and life notes in his modern art history, completely integrated in his texts. Furthermore, he arranged his information on art and artists in a very clear and modern way, both connected as in a texture. He distinguished and compared all modern art movements very vividly. I noticed by his descriptions of the new art movements that Bendien was part of them, together with all the other artists who were searching for mutual inspiration and exchange. By Bendien I realized the first time in my life that every artist in his or her work is first of all participating in life force, in real life.
Despite his firm arrangement of the material on the new arts and artists Bendien gave also a lot of fine texture between them. He was unbelievable keen on showing the interrelations between the art movements and illustrating these with quotes and facts. He quotes in his book all kinds of connections between the modern art movements and the artists who participated in them. SoCubism is debating with Futurism, and with Dada; Constructivism in its turn is in discussion with the artist painter Bendien himself, and with the subtle Suprematism artist Kazimir Malevich.
Bendien, himself an artist, was ‘discussing in pictures’ a lot with Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg (De Stijl), probably because they were very close to his own art conceptions, but at the same time very different because Bendien wanted to retain an emotionally recognizable figuration in his own drawings and paintings.
When Bendien got very weak because of his tuberculosis during the last years of his short life, he stayed in Amsterdam and the people who took care of him brought new paintings of Mondrian fresh from Paris. Lying in his bed Bendien could study the still smelling Mondrian’s oil paintings and he noticed every detail of them. He looked for hours on end, lying in bed and watching Mondrian’s inspirational painting! When people like art critic Hammacher came to visit him, Bendien taught his ‘pupils’ (several were art history teachers) how to study closely and carefully the paintings of Mondrian and other artists. He inspired them how to look at the material, constructive, compositional and spiritual layers all as a whole. I am convinced that Bendien was the artist in the Netherlands those days who had the most complete understanding of Mondrian during his life. He even defended the painter Mondrian against the harsh and rude theorist Mondrian with his many ‘absolute’ theories and concepts. Bendien had a very independent opinion, so he also criticized the artist Mondrian and recognized very sharply the limitations and choices of Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg in the rather absolute abstract ‘Stijl’ Movement.
Bendien tought me how to discover inspirational artist quotes and quotations of modern art
Bendien had a broad view on modern art history and the new art movements. He appreciated most of the art movements during his life, because of their typical character which he described by means of the many quotations from the new art movements, their manifests, written or spoken by the artists belonging to them. So I found the first important inspirational quotes but I didn’t know I would later collect them within a few years for myself. What I gradually realized was that I wanted to share with others my experiences with Bendien; Bendien’s art-book was old but to me very inspirational in quotes and sayings. However no recent reprint of his book is available. So I decided to select typical quotes from his texts by which I wanted to portray every modern art movement. I already published them in Dutch on a Dutch art website ‘DeKunsten’ (TheArts), which is used frequently by scholars and young students and teachers in art history. We have now started an English version, as you can see.
By selecting the artist quotes, concepts, ideas and comments by the artists I realized how powerful and inspirational art quotes can be, as a revelation of the roots of modern art history. One example; being an abstract painter myself, I was very touched by the way Kandinsky described in his inspiring biography how he– already an experienced painter– discovered his first ‘abstract’ painting in his life when he came home one night. There he found one of his recent paintings standing on the floor, with its back to the wall, but upside down. So he couldn’t recognize his own painting. But he loved it! With a shock he realized he saw an ‘Abstract’ art piece made by himself for the first time in his life. He knew he had hit upon something completely new. This was an unbelievable inspiring moment in history of modern art, ‘just by an accident’. This kind of artist quotes are - I believe -like stars or diamonds and so inspirational. I remember also Calder, the inventer of ‘mobiles’, who came to visit Mondrian in his atelier in Paris and suggested the painter to hang his paintings in the air, so they would function much better. Or take for example the moment that the old Mondrian in New York saw the abstract early paintings of Lee Krasner and recognized in her an important abstract painter. Or take Willem de Kooning, working a whole year already to accomplish his first ‘Woman’ painting, but not being able to finish it. And there Sapiro, a famous art history teacher, visits his studio. Nobody knows what the two were talking about. But one day later ‘The woman’ was finished! Many more ‘Women’ followed soon. What were they talking about? Nobody knows, but it worked! The first ‘Woman’ painting in De Koonings life was finished; its appearance resulted in intensive and energetic art debates among the artists of the New York School. So art exchange can work out!
Fons Heijnsbroek
- images of Jacob Bendien’s art on Google
- Bendien’s art in Central Museum, Utrecht
