Nocturnos II vs. «Mr. Whistler's "Ten O'Clock"»

Hiroshige, Moonlight View of Tsukuda with Lady on a Balcony (1856 - via Wikipaintings)

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«(...) Yes, Art--that has of late become, as far as much discussion and writing can make it, a sort of common topic for the tea-table.

Art is upon the Town !--to be chucked under the chill by the passing gallant--to be enticed within the gates of the householder--to be coaxed into company, as a proof of culture and refinement. (...)»

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Whistler, Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea (1871, Tate Gallery, Londres)

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«She (art) is, withal, selfishly occupied with her own perfection only--having no desire to teach--seeking and finding the beautiful in all conditions and in all times (...)»

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Van Gogh, The starry night (1888, Musée d'Orsay, Paris - via Wikipaintings)

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«Nature contains the elements, in colour and form, of all pictures, as the keyboard contains the notes of all music.

But the artist is born to pick, and choose, and group with science, these elements, that the result may be beautiful--as the musician gathers his notes, and forms his chords, until he bring forth from chaos glorious harmony. (...)»

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António Carneiro, Nocturno - Matriz de Ponte de Lima (1913 . via Matrizpix)

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«And when the evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and the poor buildings lose themselves in the dim sky, and the tall chimneys become campanili, and the warehouses are palaces in the night, and the whole city hangs in the heavens, and fairyland is before us--then the wayfarer hastens home; the working man and the cultured one, the wise man and the one of pleasure, cease to understand, as they have ceased to see, and Nature, who, for once, has sung in tune, sings her exquisite song to the artist alone, her son and her master--her son in that he loves her, her master in that he knows her».

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Georgia O'Keeffe, City Night (1926 - via Wikipaintings)

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«To him her secrets are unfolded, to him her lessons have become gradually clear. He looks at he flower, not with the enlarging lens, that he may gather facts for the botanist, but with the light of the one who sees in her choice selection of brilliant tones and delicate tints, suggestions of future harmonies».

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Whistler, «"Ten O'clock" - Lecture delivered in London, Cambridge, Oxford, 1885» (Link para o texto na totalidade)