Which Artists Created The Most Inspiring Quotes On Colours?

I’m the kind of person who collects short lines and sticks them above my monitor, and when the conversation is about colour the ones I reach for most often come from a mix of painters and thinkers. Kandinsky’s 'Color is a power which directly influences the soul' is a go-to when I want to stop overthinking and just trust colour. Goethe’s 'Colors are the deeds and sufferings of light' makes me see colour as story and action rather than decoration. Then there’s Albers—his practical skepticism in 'Interaction of Color' taught me to test everything: a colour never sits alone.

I also like Van Gogh’s nocturnal take, 'I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day,' because it’s an invitation to look for vibrancy in unexpected places. Frida Kahlo’s simple 'I paint flowers so they will not die' is a lovely, defiant line that makes colour feel like a small immortality. For anyone wanting to be inspired, try picking one of these quotes as a prompt: make a study or playlist based on its tone, then see how that shifts your perception. It’s cheap therapy and a creative workout in one, and it always leads me to at least one new idea.

I get genuinely giddy whenever colours come up in conversation—there’s something about how a single hue can carry mood, history, and a whole personality. If we’re talking about artists who created the most inspiring lines about colour, a few names keep popping up for me. Wassily Kandinsky’s line, 'Color is a power which directly influences the soul,' always stops me in my tracks; it’s one of those statements that makes you want to rearrange your palette and your day. Pablo Picasso also had that perfect practical poetry: 'Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.' It’s short, human, and true—color moves with feeling.

Then there’s Goethe, whose 'Colors are the deeds and sufferings of light' gives colour a theatrical life; I used to quote that when teaching a late-night sketch class, because it makes light feel active. Paul Klee fascinates me too: 'Colour has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase for it, I know that it has hold of me forever.' That line feels like falling in love—sudden and total. Josef Albers, more methodical, wrote in 'Interaction of Color' that 'In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is— as a single, flat and unchanging entity,' which is endlessly useful when trying to explain why context matters in design and painting.

Vincent van Gogh’s observation—'I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day'—is a personal favorite because it flips expectations and makes me look at shadows. Claude Monet’s reputed 'Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment' captures the bittersweet of chasing the perfect light. Frida Kahlo’s blunt tenderness—'I paint flowers so they will not die'—turns colour into preservation. Together these quotes give different angles: spiritual, emotional, scientific, obsessive, and tender. I usually keep a few of them written on the inside cover of my sketchbook so on gray days I can pick one and try to make it true on the page.

When I was in art school I’d scribble short quotes on the margins of my assignments; some stuck more than others. If you want a quick list of artists whose colour lines still inspire me in practical ways, I’d pick Kandinsky, Picasso, Goethe, Paul Klee, and Josef Albers.

Kandinsky’s 'Color is a power which directly influences the soul' is great when you’re experimenting with expressive palettes—use it to justify bold choices. Picasso’s idea that 'colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions' helps when designing characters or moods: tweak saturation and you tweak personality. Goethe’s poetic 'Colors are the deeds and sufferings of light' is a reminder to think of colour as behaviour, not just pigment. Paul Klee’s passionate note about colour possessing him is perfect for when you’re letting intuition lead. And Albers is the tech-savvy mentor: his observations in 'Interaction of Color' teach you how neighbouring colours change perception—super useful for UI, textiles, or painting.

I also love how these voices span thinking modes: the poet, the scientist, the teacher, the lover of colour. If you’re trying to learn, pick a quote and translate it into an experiment—one warm palette day, one designed to make a mood shift, and one where you only change relationships between two colours. That always sparks ideas for me.