All art is based on non-conformity.
BEN SHAHNNow, my knowledge of photography was terribly limited.
More Ben Shahn Quotes
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All art is based on nonconformity … Without nonconformity we would have had no Bill of Rights or Magna Carta, no public education system, no nation upon this continent, no continent, no science at all, no philosophy, and considerably fewer religions.
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The artist is likely to be looked upon with some uneasiness by the more conservative members of society.
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If you’re going to be an artist, all life is your subject. And all your experience is part of your art.
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It is not the how of painting but the why. To imitate a style would be a little like teaching a tone of voice or a personality.
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Now, my knowledge of photography was terribly limited.
BEN SHAHN -
How do you paint yellow wheat against a yellow sky? You paint it jet black.
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Every great historic change has been based on nonconformity, has been bought either with the blood or with the reputation of nonconformists.
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What is it about conformity itself that causes us all to require it of our neighbors and of our artists and then, with consummate fickleness, to forget those who fall into line and eternally celebrate those who do not?
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We tried to present the ordinary in an extraordinary manner. But that’s the paradox because the only thing extraordinary about it was that it was so ordinary.
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Being an artist is not only what you do, but how you live your life.
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I was primarily interested in people, and people in action, so that I did nothing photographically in the sense of doing buildings for their own sake or a still life or anything like that.
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The natural reaction of the artist will be strongly towards bringing man back into focus as the center of importance.
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If one has set for himself the position that his painting shall not misconstrue his personal mode of thinking, then he must be rather alert to just what he does think.
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The values that reside in art are anarchic, they are every man’s loves and hates and his momentary divine revelation.
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A youngster told me recently that he was going to give himself a year to see if he has talent. A year! It takes a lifetime to see if you have it. Painting is total engagement.
BEN SHAHN