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# The Artist Statements of the Old Masters
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/the-artist-statements-of-the-old-masters/
- Published: 2015-08-04T13:01:37.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:43:11.000Z
- Description: “If the great European artists of the past were alive today, what kinds of statements would they need to write to explain and justify their work?”
- Author: John Seed
- Tags: Art, Old Masters, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:08 (2014, 2015, part 2)

[![Artist's-Statements-Cover-Image-1280](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/artists-statements-cover-image-1280.jpg)](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1515224031/hyperallergic-20?ref=hyperallergic.com)

“If the great European artists of the past were alive today, what kinds of statements would they need to write to explain and justify their work?”

This summer I asked myself that question over two dozen times for a small, humor book that I have been developing. I hope you will find the sampling of seven statements below funny and even a bit poetic. Five of them were written specifically for Hyperallergic and two are from [my new book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1515224031/hyperallergic-20?ref=hyperallergic.com).

![Rachel_Ruysch2](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/rachel_ruysch2.jpg)

![chardin2](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/chardin2.jpg)

![leonardo2](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/leonardo2.jpg)

![watteau2](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/watteau2.jpg)

![hals3](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/hals3.jpg)

![delacroix3](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/delacroix3.jpg)

![vermeer](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/vermeer.jpg)

*John Seed’s* [Artist’s Statements of the Old Masters](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1515224031/hyperallergic-20?ref=hyperallergic.com) *(2015) is available on Amazon.*