I always suspect an artist who is successful before he is dead.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Degas doubts the value of early success, implying that true artistic merit is often recognized only after death.
- In plain terms
- He thinks an artist who is successful before dying may not be truly great.
- What can you take from it?
- True artistic worth often emerges posthumously.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we often celebrate artists after they die?
- Can early success ever reflect lasting greatness?
Another view
Success can be genuine and not merely a sign of lacking depth.
More from Edgar Degas
What use is my mind? Granted that it enables me to hail a bus and to pay my fare. But once I am inside my studio, what use is my mind? I have my model, my penc…
Permalink to quote #55 A strange fellow, this Degas - sickly, a bundle of nerves, with such weak eyes that he is afraid of going blind, yet for these very reasons extremely sensitive…
Permalink to quote #57 What is certain is that setting a piece of nature in place and drawing it are two very different things.
Permalink to quote #54
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