Agnes Martin
Agnes Martin
Agnes Bernice Martin, born in Canada, was an American abstract painter. Often referred to as a minimalist, Martin considered herself an abstract expressionist. Her work has been defined as an "essay in discretion, inwardness and silence"...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth22 March 1912
CityMacklin, Canada
CountryCanada
art memories perfection
I would like my work to be recognized as being in the classical tradition (Coptic, Egyptian, Greek, Chinese), as representing the Ideal in the mind. Classical art cannot possibly be eclectic. One must see the ideal in one's own mind. It is like a memory - an awareness -of perfection.
art perfect mind
You can't make a perfect painting. We can see perfection in our minds. But we can't make a perfect painting.
art perfect mind
I hope I have made it clear that the work is about perfection as we are aware of it in our minds but that the paintings are very far from being perfect - completely removed in fact - even as we ourselves are.
thinking mysterious-things perfection
I think our minds respond to things beyond this world. Take beauty: it's a very mysterious thing, isn't it? I think it's a response in our minds to perfection. It's too bad, people not realizing that their minds expand beyond this world.
thinking perfect mind
I often paint tranquility. If you stop thinking and rest, then a little happiness comes into your mind. At perfect rest you are comfortable.
art perfect sublime
Beauty and happiness and life are all the same and they are pervasive, unattached and abstract and they are our only concern. They are immeasurable, completely lacking in substance. They are perfect and sublime. This is the subject matter of art.
art expectation
The main thing in making art often is letting go of your expectation and your idea.
feeling happiness morning painting people wake
People who look at my painting say that it makes them happy, like the feeling when you wake up in the morning. And happiness is the goal, isn't it?
aggression succeed
I don't think the way to succeed is by doing something aggressive. Aggression is weak-minded.
came grid happened innocence mind painted
When I first made a grid, I happened to be thinking of the innocence of trees, and then a grid came into my mind and I thought it represented innocence, and I still do, and so I painted it and then I was satisfied. I thought, 'This is my vision.'
paintings
My paintings are certainly nonobjective. They're just horizontal lines.
life
Artwork is a representation of our devotion to life.
art
The value of art is in the observer.
cool minimize paintings themselves
The Minimalists are idealist. They want to minimize themselves in favor of the ideal... But I just can't. You see, my paintings are not cool.