Arne Glimcher Quotes

Powerful Arne Glimcher for Daily Growth

About Arne Glimcher

Arne Glimcher, born on October 19, 1938, in New York City, is an esteemed art dealer, museum founder, and philanthropist who has significantly impacted the contemporary art world. Raised by Jewish immigrants from Russia, his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic and love for culture that would shape his future endeavors. Glimcher attended Syracuse University before leaving to serve as a combat engineer during the Korean War. Upon his return, he pursued art history at Columbia University. In 1960, he founded Pace Gallery with Arnold Glimcher, his brother, marking the beginning of an illustrious career in the art world. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Pace Gallery became a hub for cutting-edge contemporary artists such as Richard Artschwager, Sol LeWitt, and Chuck Close. Glimcher's keen eye for talent, coupled with his dedication to fostering relationships with both emerging and established artists, solidified his reputation as an influential art dealer. In 1987, Glimcher founded the Dia Art Foundation, a non-collecting institution dedicated to commissioning, constructing, and maintaining permanent installations by artists such as Walter De Maria, Agnes Denes, and Michael Heizer. This visionary project has significantly contributed to contemporary art and land art movements. Throughout his career, Glimcher has served on numerous boards, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. His passion for art extends beyond commercial endeavors, making him a pivotal figure in shaping the contemporary art landscape. Arne Glimcher's life and work embody a lifelong dedication to artistic expression and cultural enrichment, making him an enduring icon in the world of contemporary art. His influence continues to resonate as his legacy lives on through the artists he has championed and the institutions he has founded.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Art has the power to change lives."

Arne Glimcher's quote suggests that art holds a profound ability to impact and transform individuals' lives significantly. This impact can occur on various levels, including emotional, intellectual, and even societal. Art can provoke deep emotions, challenge our perspectives, broaden our understanding, and inspire us towards positive change. It serves as a powerful tool for personal growth and self-discovery, while also playing a crucial role in shaping cultures and societies.


"The purpose of art is wonderment."

Arne Glimcher's quote, "The purpose of art is wonderment," emphasizes that the primary goal of artistic creation is to evoke a sense of awe, curiosity, and amazement in the viewer or audience. In other words, art should have the power to provoke questions, inspire reflection, and spark emotions within us. By fostering wonderment, art transcends ordinary experience and allows us to engage with the world in unique and profound ways, enriching our understanding of ourselves, others, and the universe at large.


"Art is a matter of feeling and emotion and not a matter of logic at all."

This quote emphasizes that art is primarily an expression of emotional and sensory experiences rather than rational or logical thought processes. Art serves as a vehicle for artists to convey their feelings, ideas, and perceptions in ways that transcend conventional language and logic, inviting viewers to engage with the work on an intuitive and empathetic level. In essence, art is a powerful medium for human connection and understanding, allowing us to explore and express our inner selves.


"Art must be something that engages your emotions, because what you react to is what you remember."

This quote emphasizes that art's primary function is to evoke emotional responses from its viewers. The idea is that when a work of art connects with one's feelings, it leaves an indelible impression in the mind. Therefore, for art to be effective and impactful, it should be capable of eliciting emotions that can resonate long after the experience of viewing it has passed.


"In the end, art should make one gasp, make one laugh, make one cry, make one feel."

This quote by Arne Glimcher emphasizes that true art is profoundly impactful, evoking a range of strong emotions such as awe, amusement, sadness, or empathy in the viewer. It suggests that art should transcend mere aesthetic appreciation and inspire deep emotional responses, thereby enriching our human experience and fostering a deeper connection with ourselves and the world around us.


There is more to representing art than selling art. The life of the gallery is dependent on the renewal and refreshment of its artists and dealers. When that stops happening, it's the end.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, More, Refreshment, Renewal

In the early 1990s we witnessed the emergence of a revitalized contemporary Chinese art world that began as a reaction against the government-approved Social Realist style. Zhang Xiaogang, Huang Yong Ping, Ai WeiWei, Yue Minjun, and Wang Guangyi were among the first group of artists to establish a movement that became known as Cynical Realism.

- Arne Glimcher

Against, Realist, Became, Emergence

As a result of World War II, European artists migrated to America, enlarging the scene and diminishing Paris as the center. America was beginning its dominance of the art world with the emergence of the Abstract Expressionists.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, Beginning, Diminishing, Emergence

The conceptual artist Ai WeiWei illustrates the schizoid society that rapid change has produced - sometimes by reassembling Ming-style furniture into absurd and useless arrangements, or by carefully painting and antiquing a Coca-Cola logo on an ancient Chinese pot.

- Arne Glimcher

Artist, Sometimes, Rapid, Pot

The most wonderful time to be in the art world was in the sixties, because it wasn't a business - there was no business of doing art.

- Arne Glimcher

Business, Art, Doing, Art World

Historically, art has always had a market. When one medieval fiefdom defeated another they would drag back its jewels, gold, tapestries and art objects as the spoils of war. Art equaled power, riches and culture.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, Defeated, Always, Spoils

Art is not an investment. Art is something you buy because you are financially solvent enough to give yourself a pleasure of living with great works rather than having to just see them in museums. People who are buying art at the top of the market as an investment are foolish.

- Arne Glimcher

Rather, Buy, Works, Foolish

If Abstract Expression reached for the sublime, Pop turned ordinary imagery into icons. Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol illuminated the transformative power of context and the process of reproduction. Claes Oldenburg's soft ice-cream cones and hamburgers changed sculpture from hard to soft, from stasis to transformation.

- Arne Glimcher

Pop, Warhol, Turned, Context

I would begin by collecting lithographs and etchings. It's a way of coming in and benefiting from real quality art. Even younger artists make wonderful prints. Prints can become very valuable. That's how I began collecting.

- Arne Glimcher

How, Very, Collecting, Benefiting

I was an actor as a kid in Boston. Then I went to art school with Brice Marden, the Massachusetts College of Art. So the hybrid of being an actor and artist is a director.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, College, Boston, Massachusetts

When Nixon opened the door to China in the early 1970s, Chinese artists got their first view of the West. Suddenly five centuries of Western art lay before them as a stylistic smorgasbord. Chinese artists could reinterpret it out of admiration or try to replace it. They choose the former.

- Arne Glimcher

Door, Before, Nixon, Stylistic

I actually taught perceptual psychology at N.Y.U. when I was younger. I was interested in the aesthetic impulse in lower primates. But what really interested me in Dian Fossey was that she made a difference - she saved the gorillas.

- Arne Glimcher

Saved, Aesthetic, Younger, Impulse

Some prescient American collectors, including Vicki and Kent Logan and Mera and Donald Rubell, began collecting Chinese art before 2000 with a genuine passion, but as the auction prices exploded everyone was beating a path to the galleries and artist studios in China. It became the 'China thing.'

- Arne Glimcher

Some, Became, Donald, Collectors

When Robert Benton was doing the movie 'In the Still of the Night,' I'd choreographed the auction scene and supplied the paintings and had a bit part - I was bidding against Meryl Streep.

- Arne Glimcher

Doing, Still, Meryl, Supplied

I've always been in love with the movies. They're the dreams of the 20th Century.

- Arne Glimcher

Love, Movies, Always, 20th Century

Art is a tool by which society extends its perception.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, Society, Which, Tool

It's possible to have more than one interest. I've been a painter and did summer stock.

- Arne Glimcher

Interest, Been, Painter, Stock

I like the idea of a love story between men. There is a great affection between men, which exists much more in ethnic groups: Latin, Italian, Jewish.

- Arne Glimcher

Love, Ethnic, Which, Affection

I don't believe in selling art by transparencies. Art is a firsthand experience.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, Believe, Selling, Firsthand

Fairs are beneath the dignity of art. To stand there in a booth and hawk your wares - it is just not how you sell art.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, Sell, Beneath, Hawk

I think very often the price paid for a work is the trophy itself.

- Arne Glimcher

Think, Very, Itself, Trophy

The '80s market was only a Japanese market. It was the Japanese outbidding each other for the most expensive works of art. When the Japanese economy went down the tubes, there was no one left to pay the prices that have been recorded for all of those works.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, Other, Been, Prices

People see owning a gallery as a way to get rich. I never thought that I could get rich in the art world. I wanted a life in art. I wanted to live with artists. I wanted to make beautiful shows.

- Arne Glimcher

Art, Thought, Could, Art World

Elvis Presley's music never meant anything to me. Mambo was the music I loved - it spoke to me.

- Arne Glimcher

Music, Never, Meant, Elvis

Your life moves in patterns toward things, and things that we achieve finally are part of this mosaic. I just think that we create our own fate.

- Arne Glimcher

Fate, Think, Achieve, Mosaic

Draw what you see.

- Arne Glimcher

You, See, Draw

I've been told I'm a good midcareer manager.

- Arne Glimcher

Good, Been, Manager

I'm a visual person.

- Arne Glimcher

Person, Visual

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