Wien The Wise

Some snippets that caught my fancy at Vienna

“Our real illiteracy is in our inability to create”
– Hundertwasser, Viennese Painter and Architect (from the walls of the art house, Kunsthauswien)

“One must work till he falls asleep out of exhaustion
– Franz Josef, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (part of the audio commentary at the Shoenbrunn Palace Tour)

“The straight line is Godless”
– Hundertwasser, Viennese Painter and Architect (from the walls of the art house, Kunsthauswien)

“Art is a lie that makes us realise the truth”
– Pablo Picasso (in a book mark at the Vienna Museum shop)

“Esthetic judgements are given and contained in the immediate expression of art. They coincide with it. They are not arrived at afterwards through reflection or thought. Esthetic judgements are also involuntary; you can no more choose whether or not to like a work of art than you can choose to have sugar taste sweet or lemons sour (whether or not esthetic judgements are honestly reported is another matter”
– Clement Greenberg, in an artwork on display at MUMOK, Vienna

“Outside of a dog,a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a book, it is too dark to read”
– Groucho Marx (in a book mark at the Vienna Museum shop)