“No art is any good unless you can feel how it's put together. By and large it's the eye, the hand and if it's any good, you feel the body. Most of the best stuff seems to be a complete gesture, the totality of the artist's body; you can really lean on it.” IfsFeelsArtBodyHandsSeemsEyeTogetherArtistStuffArt IsGesturesTotality Author:Frank Stella
“I always get into arguments with people who want to retain the old values in painting - the humanistic values that they always find on the canvas. If you pin them down, they always end up asserting that there is something there besides the paint on the canvas. My painting is based on the fact that only what can be seen there is there... What you see is what you see.” PeopleIfsWantEndsFactsValuesPaintingArgumentPaintCanvasPinsHumanisticOld Values Author:Frank Stella
“The one thing I learned is not to say anything about my own paintings. Keep my mouth shut. You'll never stop hearing what you said. It will come back to you again and again, people will always tell you about it. Even if you were the source of what's wrong with it.” PeopleIfsSaidMy OwnOne ThingPaintingSourceMouthsHearingAgain And AgainSay AnythingYou Again Author:Frank Stella
“I never noticed competing with other generations. There's competition within your own generation, but that competition is good. Maybe you're annoyed that somebody's getting more money than you are, but what's really annoying is if someone's painting a better painting than you're making. So it's something to think about and work toward and stay focused on.” IfsThinkingGenerationsPaintingCompetitionFocusedAnnoyingMore MoneyCompetingAnnoyedStay Focused Author:Frank Stella
“I think for a lot of artists, if you're lucky enough to have a kind of career, especially toward the end, you start to think about what the whole ensemble looks like. It's the whole that counts. The parts are given, but you don't know how the whole thing's going to look when it's all put together.” IfsThinkingKnowsLooksKindEndsEnoughWholeTogetherArtistGivenCareersKnow HowLuckyEnsemble Author:Frank Stella
“One learns about painting by looking at and imitating other painters. I can't stress enough how important it is, if you are interested at all in painting, to look and to look a great deal at painting. There is no other way to find out about painting.” IfsWayLooksI CanImportantEnoughDealsPaintingStressPainterImitatingImitating Others Author:Frank Stella
