Practically all great artists accept the influence of others. But . . . the artist with vision sees his material, chooses, changes, and by integrating what he has learned with his own experiences, finally molds something distinctly personnel.
Source: The Negro Artist and Modern Age, Opportunity, Dec 1934.
-- Romare Howard Bearden, (Sep 2 1914-1988), US artist, collagist; He was America's foremost collagist portraying images common to all cultures.