Monday, August 29, 2011

Saint-Gaudens’ Three Guiding Principles

During his studies in Paris, American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) came up with three guiding principles for his artwork.




1. Conceive an idea. Then stick to it. Those who hang on are the only ones who amount to anything.

2. You can do anything you please. It’s the way it’s done that makes the difference.

3. A good thing is no better for being done quickly.

LINKS
Wikipedia on Augustus Saint-Gaudens
 From The Greater Journey by David McCullough, Quoted from The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens

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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 29, 2011 at 7:04 AM

    nice!

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  2. My Pen NameAugust 29, 2011 at 8:57 AM

    The Greater Journey is an excellent book...not exclusively about artists, but goes into the lives of Morse (who gave up art and invented the elec. telegraph) Sargent, Cassat, Healy and St. Guadens and the paris art scene.

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  3. JamesAugust 29, 2011 at 4:36 PM

    That is marvellous advice. Thanks for posting.

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  4. Rick HansenAugust 29, 2011 at 4:49 PM

    I particulary like the last point.

    ReplyDelete
  5. GardenartAugust 29, 2011 at 5:42 PM

    I'm almost finished that book. It is very inspiring. So wonderful to learn from these talented people's lives. Alice

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownAugust 30, 2011 at 2:54 AM

    "A good thing is no better for being done quickly."

    heh, tell that to my manager!

    ReplyDelete
  7. IlariaAugust 30, 2011 at 3:52 AM

    But is a good thing any better for being done slowly?

    ReplyDelete
  8. RaffertyAugust 30, 2011 at 11:57 AM

    Apparently Van Gogh wrote to Theo....
    "... when people say they’re done too quickly you’ll be able to reply that they looked at them too quickly"
    A work either holds together or it doesn't, regardless of the amount of time spent.

    ReplyDelete

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