List of Agnes Martin Quotes

Pollock Was Terrific. I Think He Freed Himself Of All Kinds Of Worry About This World. Ran Around And Dripped, And Then He Managed To Express Ecstasy.

The Minimalists Are Idealist. They Want To Minimise Themselves In Favour Of The Ideal. But I Just Can't. You See, My Paintings Are Not Cool. ... I'm Very Careful Not To Have Ideas, Because They're Inaccurate.

You Can't Make A Perfect Painting. We Can See Perfection In Our Minds. But We Can't Make A Perfect Painting.

What We Really Want To Do Is Serve Happiness. We Want Everyone To Be Happy, Never Unhappy Even For A Moment. We Want The Animals To Be Happy. The Happiness Of Every Living Thing Is What We Want.

Any Material May Be Used But The Theme Is The Same And The Response Is The Same For All Artwork... We All Have The Same Concern, But The Artist Must Know Exactly What The Experience Is. He Must Pursue The Truth Relentlessly

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.

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.

What I Say Is That We're Capable Of A Transcendent Response, And I Think It Makes Us Happy. And I Do Think Beauty Produces A Transcendent Response.

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.

My Paintings Are Certainly Nonobjective. They're Just Horizontal Lines. There's Not Any Hint Of Nature. And Still Everybody Responds, I Think.

Anything Can Be Painted Without Representation.

Happiness Is Being On The Beam With Life - To Feel The Pull Of Life

Fulfill Your Potential. That's The Way To Happiness.

The Enormous Pitfall Is Devotion To Oneself Instead Of To Life. All Works That Are Self-devoted Are Absolutely Ineffective.

The Adventurous State Of Mind Is A High House... The Joy Of Adventure Is Unaccountable. This Is The Attractiveness Of Artwork. It Is Adventurous, Strenuous And Joyful.

It Is Commonly Thought That Everything That Is Can Be Put Into Words.

I Often Paint Tranquility. If You Stop Thinking And Rest, Then A Little Happiness Comes Into Your Mind. At Perfect Rest You Are Comfortable.

There's Nobody Living Who Couldn't Stand All Afternoon In Front Of A Waterfall .... Anyone Who Can Sit On A Stone In A Field Awhile Can See My Painting. Nature Is Like Parting A Curtain, You Go Into It .... As You Would Cross An Empty Beach To Look At The Ocean.

When You Look In Your Mind You Find It Covered With A Lot Of Rubbishy Thoughts. You Have To Penetrate These And Hear What Your Mind Is Telling You To Do. Such Work Is Original Work.

I Want To Emphasize The Fact That We All Have The Same Experience And The Same Concern, But The Artist Must Know Exactly What The Experience Is. He Must Pursue The Truth Relentlessly. Once He Sees This Fact His Feet Are On The Path. If You Want To Know The Truth You Will Know It. The Manipulation Of Materials In An Artwork Is A Result Of This State Of Mind. The Artist Works By Awareness Of His Own State Of Mind.

I Once Taught Art To Adults In A Night Course. I Had A Woman Who Painted Her Back Yard, And She Said It Was The First Time She Had Ever Really Looked At It. I Think Everyone Sees Beauty. Art Is A Way To Respond

The Worst Thing You Can Think About When You're Working Is Yourself.

I Paint With My Back To The World

That Which Takes Us By Surprise-moments Of Happiness-that Is Inspiration.