Art history – what does it mean for a painter? Most painting is a conversation between continuity and novelty. The latter will get you attention, which can be habit forming. Some people seem to think that continuity, or tradition, is a narrowing down – what’s left over after the innovators have moved on. But in practice, it’s an enlargement of the painter’s sphere; a reweaving of the web of connections. It’s what most painters feel as their work evolves. Continuity is the dialogue a painter carries on with himself in the guise of his precursors. You push off from your forebears only to find yourself merged with them in the end.

– David Salle, in How to See (via ricdragon)