Quotes & Sayings About Art Theft

But after taking command of the Army of Italy in 1796, Napoleon took organized theft to a new level ... The French also stole art at a new level: Napoleon requested that the government send him experts qualified to judge which paintings his men should steal; priceless canvases by Titian, Raphael, Rubens, and Leonardo da Vinci were shipped to Paris. — Tom Reiss

Art is theft. - Pablo Picasso — Anonymous

It should be obvious why it's easier to copy someone else's painting, rather than work on site or even from a photograph. All the selection, rejection and design have already been done for you. — Ron Ranson

[W]hen the modern mythmaker, the writer of literary fairy tales, dares to touch the old magic and try to make it work in new ways, it must be done with the surest of touches. It is, perhaps, a kind of artistic thievery, this stealing of old characters, settings, the accoutrements of magic. But then, in a sense, there is an element of theft in all art; even the most imaginative artist borrows and reconstructs the archetypes when delving into the human heart. That is not to say that using a familiar character from folklore in the hopes of shoring up a weak narrative will work. That makes little sense. Unless the image, character, or situation borrowed speaks to the author's condition, as cryptically and oracularly as a dream, folklore is best left untapped. — Jane Yolen

Art theft gave a guy an appetite. — Gordon Korman

This is what it is the business of the artist to do. Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your mother. — Janet Malcolm

You can steal someone's Art,
But not their Heart.
You can immitate them,
But you can never be like them.
You can hurt them,
But you cannot kill their will to love again.
You can leave,
But your space will always be filled by someone better than you. — Nomthandazo Tsembeni

To live
On means not yours
be brave in silks and laces,
Gallant in steeds; splendid in banquets; all
Not yours. Given, uninherited, unpaid for;
This is to be a trickster; and to filch
Men's art and labour, which to them is wealth,
Life, daily bread;
quitting all scores with "friend,
You're troublesome!" Why this, forgive me,
Is what, when done with a less dainty grace,
Plain folks call "Theft. — Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton