What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art

Leonardo Da Vinci
About This Quote

What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art. The great writer and playwright Oscar Wilde said this when he was asked to explain the meaning of art. What is fair in men, such as fairness of character and morality, can be judged by an outsider looking in. Art is different because it cannot be judged by outsiders.

The only way to judge art is to see what it can do. When we say that a piece of art is unfair or unfair to its audience, we are saying that it does not make sense for an outsider to judge the work on its own merits. An artist creates a work of art on a level that is beyond any outsider’s ability to understand.

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More Quotes By Leonardo Da Vinci
  1. All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions
  2. Our life is made by the death of others.
  3. A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.
  4. Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.
  5. All sciences are vain and full of errors that are not born of Experience, the mother of all Knowledge.
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