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Frank Stella Quotes

Painter

Frank Stella is an influential American painter born on May 12, 1936. Known for his minimalist style and unique painting techniques, Stella's works have had a profound impact on the art world.

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All Painting Art Artist Ifs Abstract Art Is Knows Painter People Real Want Way World Abstract Painting Ends Frank Hard Kind Mean Stella

Famous Frank Stella Quotes

“One learns about painting by looking at and imitating other painters.”

Painting Painter Imitation Imitating Imitating Others

Author:Frank Stella

“But, after all, the aim of art is to create space - space that is not compromised by decoration or illustration, space within which the subjects of painting can live.”

Art Space Subjects Painting Art Is Aim Illustration Decoration

Book:Working Space

Source: Working Space

“When I'm painting the picture, I'm really painting a picture. I may have a flat-footed technique, or something like that, but still, to me, the thrill, or the meat of the thing, is the actual painting. I don't get any thrill out of laying it out.”

May Stills Painting Technique Meat Flats Thrill Painting A Picture

Book:Black paintings

Source: Black paintings

“Abstract paintings must be as real as those created by the 16th century Italians.”

Real Century Painting Abstract Abstract Painting

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.”

People Ifs Want Ends Facts Values Painting Argument Paint Canvas Pins Humanistic Old Values

Author:Frank Stella

“As far as I was concerned, with the early paintings, I liked them, I thought they were pretty good, but I didn't think it was the end of the world. I also thought of it as a kind of structure, a base to build on. So this proves I can do this and that, and they don't collapse, so then what can I do from here? How can I build on it?”

Thinking World Kind I Can Ends Can Do Painting Prove Concerned Structure Collapse End Of The World I Can Do This

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.”

People Ifs Said My Own One Thing Painting Source Mouths Hearing Again And Again Say Anything You 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.”

Ifs Thinking Generations Painting Competition Focused Annoying More Money Competing Annoyed Stay Focused

Author:Frank Stella

“You have bits of canvas that are unpainted and you have these thick stretcher bars. So you see that a painting is an object; that it's not a window into something - you're not looking at a landscape, you're not looking at a portrait, but you're looking at a painting. It's basically: A painting is a painting is a painting. And it's what Frank Stella said famously: What you see is what you see.”

Said Bits Objects Painting Window Bars Landscape Thick Frank Canvas Portraits Stella

Author:Frank Stella

“There's a lot of difference between being well known and being notorious and the black paintings didn't make me well known - they made me notorious.”

Wells Made Black Differences Known Painting Well Known Notorious

Author:Frank Stella

“A sculpture is just a painting cut out and stood up somewhere.”

Cutting Painting Sculpture Stood Up

Author:Frank Stella

“Up until 35 I had a slightly skewed world view. I honestly believed everybody in the world wanted to make abstract paintings, and people only became lawyers and doctors and brokers and things because they couldn't make abstract paintings”

People World Wanted Artist Views Painting Doctors Lawyer Honestly Abstract World View Brokers Abstract Painting

Author:Frank Stella

“I was worried in the '80s that the best abstract painting had become obsessed with materiality, and painterly gestures and materiality were up against the wall.”

Artist Painting Wall Worried Obsessed Abstract Gestures 80s Materiality Abstract Painting

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.”

Ifs Way Looks I Can Important Enough Deals Painting Stress Painter Imitating Imitating Others

Author:Frank Stella

“All I want anyone to get out of my paintings, and all I ever get out of them, is the fact that you can see the whole idea without any confusion…What you see is what you see.”

Want Ideas Whole Facts Painting Confusion

Book:Frank Stella in 2002

Source: Frank Stella in 2002

About the Author

Born: May 12, 1936
Known for: Painter
Quotes: 36

Books & Sources

Black paintingsRelated source material

Working SpaceRelated source material

Frank Stella at 2000Related source material

Frank Stella in 2002Related source material

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