Elizabeth Peyton Quotes & Sayings

“Romanticism is not just about being in a fixed state of endless beauty, because you can't live like that or live on that, that's what I've learnt.”

“If art is any good, it has so much of a longer trajectory than one night. Contemporary art is separate from art openings. In the end, it depends on the strength of ideas in each piece.”

“I think little things are more powerful because they're more honest, so people feel them more strongly.”

“A painting of a person can be descriptive, but for me it's about all the things that make up a picture - the feelings, the brushstrokes - more than describing somebody. People latch on to the personalities when they talk about my work and forget the other parts.”

“I think everybody can be beautiful. Anybody can have beauty. It's about how you look at the world, in a way, and how you treat yourself.”

“I don't rise to the occasion unless I'm really moved.”

“I think it is such an amazing moment when people realize what they are and what they can be, and they start putting themselves out into the world. I think you can see it in people when it's happening. They look different.”

“I love the idea that someone I like would have a piece of mine in their house and have a relationship with it.”

“I start listening to something, or I'm seeing somebody a lot or seeing their art. And then I just really want to make a picture of them.”

“You really need faith in yourself to make art and to stand up for what you believe in.”