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  2. German to English
  3. Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

Große Kunst ist dann erreicht, wenn man nichts mehr weglassen kann.

English translation: Great art is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.

10:22 Jun 6, 2013
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Redensart
German term or phrase: Große Kunst ist dann erreicht, wenn man nichts mehr weglassen kann.
Hallo,

es handelt sich offensichtlich um eine chinesische Redensart.
Gibt es dazu eine englische Entsprechung oder fällt jemandem eine schöne englische Übersetzung ein?

Danke!!!
NatM
Germany
Local time: 00:15
English translation:Great art is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
Explanation:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26979.html

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Note added at 1 hr (2013-06-06 11:55:30 GMT)
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Hier zur Information das Originalzitat von Saint-Exupery:
“La perfection est atteinte, non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter, mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retirer.”
Selected response from:

Norbert Hohl
Australia
Local time: 07:45
Grading comment
Thank you everybody for the suggestions. I guess this is the one that fits best in my case :-)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4In great art nothing is superfluous
Armorel Young
3 +3Great art - less is more.
Cilian O'Tuama
3 +1The best design is the simplest one that works
Cilian O'Tuama
3 +1Great art is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
Norbert Hohl
3In great art, nothing is dispensable
Michael Martin, MA
2Great Art: no need for more, less can't be done!
freekfluweel
3 -1In a great work of art there is nothing more to omit.
Horst Huber (X)


  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
In great art nothing is superfluous


Explanation:
Would be a loose translation, and one that harks back to Leonardo da Vinci:


Human subtlety...will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature, because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci

Armorel Young
Local time: 23:15
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 134

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  BrigitteHilgner: I think "superfluous" is the key word.
31 mins
agree  MiriamT (X): sounds good!
37 mins
agree  franglish: Not a word superfluous!
1 hr
agree  Marcus Malabad
3 days 21 hrs
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24 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
The best design is the simplest one that works


Explanation:
Albert Einstein

Not quite the same, but...

In what context is it being used?

Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Local time: 00:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 109
Notes to answerer
Asker: A text about a technical invention, "Kunst" being the product in this case... Thank you!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Rosa Paredes: This works ...
13 hrs
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27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
In great art, nothing is dispensable


Explanation:
Might work. Nietzsche might have liked it, too.


    Reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=EKtLNkBHrT4C&pg=PA22&dq=%22...
Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 18:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 63
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39 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
Great Art: no need for more, less can't be done!


Explanation:
in Dutch: "meer hoeft niet, minder kan niet"

freekfluweel
Netherlands
Local time: 00:15
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch
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19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Great art is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.


Explanation:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26979.html

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2013-06-06 11:55:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Hier zur Information das Originalzitat von Saint-Exupery:
“La perfection est atteinte, non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter, mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retirer.”

Norbert Hohl
Australia
Local time: 07:45
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you everybody for the suggestions. I guess this is the one that fits best in my case :-)
Notes to answerer
Asker: Danke für den Link! Mir gefällt das Originalzitat. Überlege ob es vielleicht am besten passt. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Peter Nutting: The original from Chap. 3 of Terre des hommes is not about art but about industrial deisgn, specifically airplane design.
2 hrs
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49 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Great art - less is more.


Explanation:
another one

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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-06-06 12:49:24 GMT)
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Abwandlungen

„Weniger ist langweilig“
„If less is more, maybe nothing is everything.“
„Perfektion ist nicht dann erreicht, wenn man nichts mehr hinzufügen, sondern wenn man nichts mehr weglassen kann“
„Mehr ist nicht weniger“
„Das Einfache ist nicht immer das Beste. Aber das Beste ist immer einfach.“
„Mache die Dinge so einfach wie möglich - aber nicht einfacher.“
„Weniger ist leer“
„Reduce to the max“
„Weniger ist besser.“

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weniger_ist_mehr



Cilian O'Tuama
Germany
Local time: 00:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 109

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helen Shiner: Yes, this is the classic Modernist formulation. That was the project after all. I wonder whether the source text refers to this rather than a Chinese maxim./Quite so.
1 hr
  -> When it comes to providing context, less most certainly is not more.
agree  Nicola Wood: This seems to me to convey the meaning perfectly.
3 hrs
agree  Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
20 hrs
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
In a great work of art there is nothing more to omit.


Explanation:
Another try, maybe "delete"?

Horst Huber (X)
United States
Local time: 18:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 11

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Cilian O'Tuama: Intentions good, suggestion not idiomatic. Reader IMO would be stumped.
1 hr
neutral  Rosa Paredes: I have to agree with Cilian :(
3 hrs
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