Elizabeth Peyton Quotes

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.

- Elizabeth Peyton

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.

- Elizabeth Peyton

There's something in music that fascinates me - how it communicates emotion so immediately. That's something I wanted in my paintings.

- Elizabeth Peyton

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.

- Elizabeth Peyton

I lived in London for a time in the '90s and I love it here. You know, I just go and see shows and have great dinners and walk around.

- Elizabeth Peyton

In 19th-century France, artists were part of government. Artists are very sensitive to their time. They're very thoughtful people - it makes sense to hear what they have to say.

- Elizabeth Peyton

The faces people make when they are photographed and the face they have when you draw them are very different.

- Elizabeth Peyton

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

- Elizabeth Peyton

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

- Elizabeth Peyton

To paint well, I need to be enraptured by my subjects.

- Elizabeth Peyton

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

- Elizabeth Peyton

No one is famous when they wake up in the morning, so it's nice seeing people in moments when they're just being themselves.

- Elizabeth Peyton