Ken Done Quotes about Art

Ken Done is an influential twentieth century Australian painter and colorist. He is best known for his bold and colorful paintings of Sydney, the Australian outback and coral reefs. Done made his own path in art as he was mostly shunned by the art establishment. He put his colorful prints on t-shirts, bedding, tea towels, bikinis, posters, calendars, and much more. He also opened his own art gallery at The Rocks in Sydney to sell his original paintings, prints and merchandise. He has produced paintings, drawings, murals, and prints. Famous Ken Done paintings include “Downstairs at the Cabin”, “Cadmium sea garden”, “Night bridge and Opera House”, “Emily and Michael’s place I”, and “Reef I”.

Mini biography: Born Kenneth Stephen Done on the 29th of June, 1940 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. His mother was (Let me know if you know KD’s mother’s name) and his father was Clifford Done. Done is married to Judy Walker and they have two children: Son Oscar Done and daughter Camilla Done. Ken Done lives and works in Sydney, Australia.

Ken Done Art Quotes

I’m not as good as a five-year old. I’ll never be as good as a five-year-old. Ken Done

I opened my own gallery, in 1980, which I always thought was the most honest thing you could do. It’s like a chef opening his restaurant. Ken Done

It’s flattering when people are responding to your work and slightly annoying if they do it badly. Ken Done

I don’t think I’d get into art school now because it’s too much theory and it’s a lot of intellectual art speak which kind of passed me by – and I must say still passes me by. Ken Done

I want to be a modern artist adopting modern technology and the idea of art translated onto cushions, beach towels and bed linen seems to be perfectly applicable and perfectly correct to me. Ken Done

In the time in which we live, I think art should be more like poetry. It does not have the power of television, it does not have the power of radio. It should make you feel something. I don’t make work to try to shock people – because I think that the things you see on television each night, they’re shocking. Ken Done

It seems acceptable if a gallery or institution makes money off the artist, but less acceptable that the artist makes it himself. Ken Done

Whether it’s the wonderful detail of the green moss that grows on the rocks in front of our house, or the grandeur of the big view over Sydney Harbour, I certainly never get tired of it and I never take it for granted. Ken Done

I like working at home. And I think, if you’re a very disciplined worker, which I am, you can work at home. Ken Done

I believe that you don’t necessarily have to go to a gallery to find art. You can find it in all kinds of things, but I’m certainly not the first artist to do this. If you go right back to Matisse, back to Picasso, they were producing designs for scarves and all kinds of things at the turn of the century in France. I love the idea of wearable or liveable art. Ken Done

I didn’t ever want to seek a government grant; nobody owed me a living. I wanted to be able to survive by supporting myself and my family and the gallery with what I could do. Ken Done

The first thing I did this morning was feed the rainbow lorikeets, then I threw a couple of bones to the magpies and kookaburras. I walked down through my garden to feed the bream, then swam in crystal clear water on a rising tide. All this about 20 minutes from the center of the city. Ken Done

If I make a little birthday card that somebody’s going to buy for a dollar, it’s not the Sistine Chapel, but I hope it’s a really good birthday card. Ken Done

Wherever you are in the world, there’s always something about the Australian light. There’s something about the sharpness of it, something about the clarity of it, something about the colours of Australia. And, hopefully, something optimistic about Australian painting too. Ken Done

So we did these first T-shirts, they were a blue on white and then suddenly we did white on blue, then suddenly we did a couple of sweat shirts and then we opened the first little shop and so on, so on, and so on, and this lead to more shops and more things. Ken Done

If I make a painting, it should be seen for what it’s set out to do too. A lot of the things that I do, it’s not all art. Some of it’s design, some of it’s illustration, some of it’s graphics, some of it’s concept, some of it’s business and some of it, hopefully, is art. Ken Done

In the times in which we live it is far too restricting to say that art can only be found in art galleries and not touch people’s everyday lives.. I want to use any means that are necessary to communicate to people what I feel about things. There are no rules. And if there are rules, then you may as well break them. Ken Done

I’ve always thought that there shouldn’t be any limit to the things that are well designed. And I think that people who consider that art should only be kept for art galleries and doesn’t have a role in public life, I think that’s too narrow. Ken Done

I think we should have a new flag, whether its my design or not it doesn’t matter but simply that it is a symbol of the maturity that the country had arrived at. Ken Done

A lot of Australian painters, towards the end of their career, keep repeating themselves. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I don’t want to do that. Ken Done

Art shouldn’t be something that you go quietly into an art gallery and dip your forelock and say ‘I have to be very quiet, I’m in here amongst the art.’ It’s here, art’s everywhere. It’s how you use your eyes. It’s about the enjoyment of visual things. And it’s certainly not for any one group of people. Ken Done

Yellow has always been my favorite color. It’s strong, optimistic and sometimes on the edge of madness – like me. Ken Done

Ken Done Self-Portrait Painting

More on Australian Artist Ken Done

How has Ken Done influenced your art making? Is he one of the best painters working in Australia today? What about John Olsen? Let us know what you think about Ken Done in the comments below.

For more on the famous Australian artist here’s three excellent Ken Done books: “Ken Done: A Life Coloured in“, “Paintings, Drawings, Posters and Prints“, and “The Art of Ken Done“.

Related or similar popular artists and celebrities include: Henri Matisse, Lloyd Rees, John Olsen, Brett Whiteley, and other Famous Australian Artists.