Author

You can't do a fine thing without having seen fine examples.

The mission of art is to represent nature not to imitate her.

What is nobler than a man wresting and wringing his bread from the stubborn soil by the sweat of his brow and the break of his back for his wife and children!

From William Morris Hunt

Art teaches you the philosophy of life, and if you can't learn it from art, you can't learn it at all. It shows you that there is no perfection. There is light, and there is shadow. Everything is in half tint.

From William Morris Hunt

I tell you it's no joke to paint a portrait. I wonder that I am not more timid when I begin. I feel almost certain that I can do it. It seems very simple. I don't think of the time that is sure to come when I almost despair, when the whole thing seems hopeless.

From William Morris Hunt

Painting is the only universal language. All nature is creation's picture book. Painting alone can describe every thing which can be seen, and suggest every emotion which can be felt. Art reaches back into the babyhood of time, and is man's only lasting monument.

From William Morris Hunt

Nature is economical. She puts her lights and darks only where she needs them.

From William Morris Hunt

Beauty is that little something that fills the whole world, and is contained neither in a single straight nose, a long eyelash, nor a blue mountain. Some see it in a leg of mutton, others in a compound fracture; and to expect others to accept one's own definition of it is as absurd as to expect all humanity to use the same toilet-brush.

From William Morris Hunt

It gives a fellow an awful shiver to hear the first shovelful of dirt and gravel rattle down upon the coffin; but after it is covered, it falls gently and makes no sound. The feeling of rest is perfect. There's no more nagging, no more pain!

From William Morris Hunt

The artist is an interpreter of Nature. People learn to love Nature through pictures. To the artist, nothing is in vain; nothing beneath his notice. If he is great enough, he will exalt every subject which he treats.

From William Morris Hunt

William Morris Hunt

Notable Quotes

Authors with Similar Views

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Pablo Picasso

Paul Cezanne

Robert Irwin

Sante D'Orazio

Authors with Opposing Views

Hans Hofmann

Anna Deavere Smith

Barbara Hepworth

Bob Weinstein

Chris Jordan