But a truly great artist cannot conceive of life being shown, or beauty fashioned, under any conditions other than those that he has selected.
 Oscar Wilde, Intentions (1891). copy citation

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Author Oscar Wilde
Source Intentions
Topic beauty life
Date 1891
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/887/887-h/887-h.htm

Context

“Milton, with his sense of the grand style, could not understand the method of Shakespeare, any more than could Sir Joshua the method of Gainsborough. Bad artists always admire each other’s work. They call it being large-minded and free from prejudice. But a truly great artist cannot conceive of life being shown, or beauty fashioned, under any conditions other than those that he has selected. Creation employs all its critical faculty within its own sphere. It may not use it in the sphere that belongs to others. It is exactly because a man cannot do a thing that he is the proper judge of it.” source