Aphorisms for Artists by Walter Darby Bannard

Aphorism #38

Art is here to take us beyond language.

Good art has everything you need to know about it in the work, not on a wall label or in critical essays. These do not help aesthetic comprehension, they alleviate the discomfort of unfamiliarity by providing a substitute for aesthetic comprehension.

When someone asks a question about my painting, I always want to say, “Ask the painting.”

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