I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art.

Meaning of the quote

The artist Willem de Kooning is saying that he creates paintings, but it is up to other people to decide whether those paintings are considered art. He doesn't get to decide that himself - the viewers are the ones who determine if his work is truly considered art.

About Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist who rose to fame as part of the New York School after World War II. Born in Rotterdam, he moved to the United States in 1926 and became a US citizen in 1962. De Kooning’s bold, energetic paintings made him one of the most renowned artists of the 20th century.

More about the author