The Story of Art QUOTES

1 " One never finishes learning about art. There are always new things to discover. "

― E.H. Gombrich , The Story of Art

3 " Actually I do not think that there are any wrong reasons for liking a statue or a picture. Someone may like a landscape painting because it reminds him of home, or a portrait because it reminds him of a friend. There is nothing wrong with that. All of us, when we see a painting, are bound to be reminded of a hundred-and-one things which influence our likes and dislikes. As long as these memories help us to enjoy what we see, we need not worry. It is only when some irrelevant memory makes us prejudiced, when we instinctively turn away from a magnificent picture of an alpine scene because we dislike climbing, that we should search our mind for the reason for the aversion which spoils a pleasure we might otherwise have had. There are wrong reasons for disliking a work of art. "

― E.H. Gombrich , The Story of Art

5 " A művészet valójában nem létezik, csak művészek vannak. Régen az ilyen ember fogott egy marék színes agyagot, és bölényeket festett a barlang falára. A mai művészek többnyire boltban vásárolják a festéket, és talán plakátokat rajzolnak, vagy mást csinálnak, esetleg sok mindent a rajzoláson kívül, akárcsak a régiek. Nem hiba, ha az ilyen foglalkozásokat művészetnek mondjuk, csak nem szabad elfelejtenünk, hogy ez a szó koronként és helyenként mást-mást jelent, és az a bizonyos nagybetűs Művészet valójában nem létezik. Ez a nagybetűs Művészet ma már inkább valamilyen fantom vagy fétis. Vérig sértheted a művészt, ha azt mondod neki, hogy az, amit festett, mintázott, a maga nemében jó, csak éppen nem "művészet". És alaposan megzavarhatod azt, aki egy festményben gyönyörködik, ha közlöd vele, hogy ami neki annyira tetszik a képen, az nem a művészet, hanem valami más. "

― E.H. Gombrich , The Story of Art

7 " It is not their standard of craftmanship which is different from ours, but their ideas. "

― E.H. Gombrich , The Story of Art

9 " I have tried to tell the Story of Art as the story of a continuous weaving and challenging of traditions in which each work refers to the past and points to the future. For there is no aspect of this story more wonderful than this-- that a living chain of tradition still links the art of our own days with that of the Pyramid age. "

― E.H. Gombrich , The Story of Art

11 " Actually I do not think that there are any wrong reasons for liking a statue or a picture. Someone may like a landscape painting because it reminds him of home, or a portrait because it reminds him of a friend. There is nothing wrong with that. All of us, when we see a painting, are bound to be reminded of a hundred-and-one things which influence out likes and dislikes. As long as these memories help up to enjoy what we see, we need not worry. It is only when some irrelevant memory makes us prejudiced, when we instinctively turn away from a magnificent picture of an alpine scene because we dislike climbing, that we should search our mind for the reason for the aversion which spoils a pleasure we might otherwise have had. There are wrong reasons for disliking a work of art. "

― E.H. Gombrich , The Story of Art