How to Be an Artist

Willem de Kooning on How to Be an Artist

Despite being an influential Abstract Expressionist artist, Willem de Kooning took a singular approach to painting. Here, we share his wisdom on being an artist.

Alexxa Gotthardt

Mar 04, 2019

Creativity

Mark Rothko on How to Be an Artist

The beloved Color Field painter left behind wisdom on what it takes to be an artist, from channeling childlike instincts to taking ego out of the equation.

Alexxa Gotthardt

Sep 13, 2018

Creativity

Georgia O’Keeffe on How to Be an Artist

“Great artists don’t just happen,” Georgia O’Keeffe once said. “They have to be trained, and in the hard school of experience.”

Alexxa Gotthardt

Mar 11, 2018

Creativity

Josef Albers on How to Be an Artist

Instead of clay and marble, Bauhaus master Josef Albers filled his classes with corrugated cardboard, paper streamers, razor blades, and chewing gum.

Sarah Gottesman

Sep 19, 2017

Creativity

Louise Bourgeois on How to Be an Artist

“Art is not about art,” Louise Bourgeois once declared. “Art is about life, and that sums it up.”

Karen Kedmey

Dec 15, 2017

Creativity

Henri Matisse on How to Be an Artist

Here, we gather four recurring themes from Matisse’s writings, including lessons on battling creative block and overcoming adversity.

Kim Hart

Jun 12, 2018

Creativity

Anni Albers on How to Be an Artist

Anni Albers revered experimentation. Here, we share advice from the innovative, endlessly curious 20th-century artist’s theories.

Alexxa Gotthardt

Apr 03, 2019

Art

Paul Klee on How to Be an Artist

When Klee hosted classes in his home, he often required that students spend time observing the movements of the tropical fish in his large aquarium.

Sarah Gottesman

Dec 21, 2016

Creativity

Joan Mitchell on How to Be an Artist

Drawing on her archives, we share Joan Mitchell’s insights on what it takes to be an artist, from mining nature for inspiration to losing oneself in painting.

Alexxa Gotthardt

Oct 11, 2018

Creativity

Agnes Martin on How to Be an Artist

“When I think of art, I think of beauty,” Agnes Martin once wrote. “Beauty is the mystery of life. It is in the mind, not in the eye.”

Alexxa Gotthardt

Jul 17, 2018

About the Series

If anyone could teach us how to pursue the life and work of an artist, it would be the icons of art history. The articles above brim with pioneering artists’ wisdom, gleaned from the writings and interviews they left behind. Insights range from Georgia O’Keeffe’s headstrong advice on avoiding trends and embracing organization to Paul Klee’s playful, practical lesson plans from the Bauhaus. Each artist offers unique answers to what it takes to pursue such a career, and what it means to live such an all-consuming, creative life. “The notion that you can make an artist overnight, that there is nothing but genius, and a dash of temperament in artistic success is a fallacy,” said a 40-year-old O’Keeffe in 1928. Great artists, she continued, “have to be trained…in the hard school of experience.”