Top 160 Robert Genn Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “Art is a path on which we honour our world.”

— Robert Genn

102. “Critics are the products of their own times and biases and what they have to say about works of art is as transient and insubstantial as fashion.”

— Robert Genn

103. “People suspend judgment in the presence of mystery.”

— Robert Genn

104. “Exploit a subject or a theme to its greatest potential by bringing all possible reference to bear – then put aside the reference and create again using the potential of your unfettered imagination.”

— Robert Genn

105. “It’s my wish that I can help creative people think of new ways to be creative – to get more joy and understanding from their own unique processes.”

— Robert Genn

106. “In life and art we need to make sure that we honour that which our hearts and brains tell us is good. And we should cast a philosophic yet curious smile at that which our hearts and brains tell us otherwise.”

— Robert Genn

107. “We know the human mind is programmed to glaze over when bored. Conversely, the mind is more alert in the presence of novelty. Our muse needs to stay seductive to keep our hands doing the right things.”

— Robert Genn

108. “The artist needs to sit patiently at the feet of Nature in all Her moods and nuances and silently develop the skills to honour Her. There are no recipes for Autumn.”

— Robert Genn

109. “Know that to begin is often better than to think.”

— Robert Genn

110. “One of the ways to learn is to know when you’re making failures.”

— Robert Genn

111. “Style essentially appeared out of what I liked to do.”

— Robert Genn

112. “When I’m in the studio I often hunger for the road. And when away I long for the efficiency of the studio.”

— Robert Genn

113. “We artists give daily thanks for the miracle of our planet and for the inclination and the capability to honour it.”

— Robert Genn

114. “I simply like the monumentality of the subjects – the opportunity for metaphor and the varied light that comes with high altitudes.”

— Robert Genn

115. “According to Mednick, after sleep, people are 33 percent more likely to be creative.”

— Robert Genn

116. “You’re right, super-realism is back in style.”

— Robert Genn

117. “This evening, while signing my name on a painting, I was thinking I might stop signing my cheques.”

— Robert Genn

118. “In painting you cover up your sins and everyone thinks you’re naturally talented.”

— Robert Genn

119. “While this may seem peculiar, the combo of work and distraction leads to levels of innovation not often generated by structured, focused thinking alone.”

— Robert Genn

120. “Where there are few expectations, expediency wins.”

— Robert Genn

121. “Our currency is what we are able to make.”

— Robert Genn

122. “God may work in light, but we mortals work in pigment.”

— Robert Genn

123. “While knowledge of tools and the love of motif may be in your backpack, and all mountains may be measured by their previous heroes, art must exist for you in a place beyond the judgment of others.”

— Robert Genn

124. “Accepting the gift may take the accumulated wisdom of some trodden miles, but it also opens the welcome windows of joy.”

— Robert Genn

125. “My app is the same juicy paint used by Vincent Van Gogh; my screen is the woven canvas of Titian. Painting by hand, I’ve come to figure, is a certain kind of love.”

— Robert Genn

126. “By thinking you are cleverer and more talented than your buddies, many a career has been blotted.”

— Robert Genn

127. “The studio is an extension of the sandbox and the kindergarten playroom. It has a dynamic unlike any office or factory. It’s a room at the service of a dreamer on her way to becoming a master.”

— Robert Genn

128. “The pursuit of art is a delicate balance between influence and self-assertiveness. As self-realized artists, we all have different levels of tolerance for this mystery. Influence is like Scotch; it’s good to know your personal limit.”

— Robert Genn

129. “While obsessive behavior may be an antisocial plague to societies and communities at large, it’s total moxie when lone practitioners catch it.”

— Robert Genn

130. “No matter what your disciplines, you need your own personal lists.”

— Robert Genn

131. “Certain music is terrifically inspirational and it is possible, months or even years afterwards, to look at a painting and remember the music that was playing during its execution.”

— Robert Genn

132. “Flat, uninteresting parts of paintings are, in fact, a ruse to get the viewer to see what needs to be seen.”

— Robert Genn

133. “I’ve come to realize that companionship and mild competition can help build quality and lay the ground for excellence.”

— Robert Genn

134. “Artists cannot be micro-managed. We can take heart that everything we do is different from the last thing we did – or indeed everything that’s ever been done. That knowledge is the key to sound mentoring.”

— Robert Genn

135. “Paintings, like tombstones, will last a good five hundred years, well into twenty or thirty generations.”

— Robert Genn

136. “Words are small straitjackets when put around creative flourishes and maneuverings.”

— Robert Genn

137. “Incompetence, in my books, is the failure of the critical faculties to interfere constructively with the natural flow.”

— Robert Genn

138. “In acrylics, what you lose on the straights you make up for on the corners.”

— Robert Genn

139. “For a lot of us drawing is a tyranny which impedes freshness and spontaneity.”

— Robert Genn

140. “Artist, gain knowledge, but know that the greatest guru of all is the guru within.”

— Robert Genn

141. “So who are we going to blame for our disappointments and our failures?”

— Robert Genn

142. “Music is the most abstract of the arts and it expresses the sound of the universe itself. These are the real rhythms that stimulate the artist’s mind and guide his hand.”

— Robert Genn

143. “By stealthily teaching dependence, photography can turn out to be dangerous.”

— Robert Genn

144. “Many of us knuckle-dragging brush-painters think that ‘behind the times’ is part of our job description. Why deny ourselves the authentic journey of a time-honoured form?”

— Robert Genn

145. “Artists are supposed to be the ones with imagination. A good part of our job description is to get regular people to use theirs.”

— Robert Genn

146. “An early flourish of confidence is useful. Then there’s the small crudities – the slubs and bumps that come with outdoor work – the odd charm of imprecision.”

— Robert Genn

147. “Our human landscape is overburdened with competitions and contests. Art need not be a contest. Art is a personal quest for quality. Quality is the forerunner of acceptance. Character is the forerunner of quality. Be your own discriminating connoisseur.”

— Robert Genn

148. “The only bad studio is the unused one.”

— Robert Genn

149. “Factual titling satisfies and is pure by its lack of bamboozlement.”

— Robert Genn

150. “Evolved creators are just as curious about their failures as they are of their successes.”

— Robert Genn