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Quote by Mark Rothko

“I am here to make you think. . . . I am not here to make pretty pictures!”

Quote by Mark Rothko

Author

Mark Rothko, born on September 25, 1903, and died on February 25, 1970, was a renowned modern artist from Russia, who later moved to the United States. His large-scale, vibrant abstract paintings have had a profound impact on the 20th-century art world. more

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“Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit.”

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Book:Writings on Art

Source: Writings on Art

“The fact that people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.. the people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when painting them. And if you say you are moved only by their color relationships then you miss the point.”

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Author:Mark Rothko

“The progression of a painter’s work…will be toward clarity; toward the elimination of all obstacles between the painter and the idea, and between the idea and the observer…to achieve this clarity is, inevitably, to be understood.”

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Book:Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: a retrospective

Source: Mark Rothko, 1903-1970: a retrospective

“My art is not abstract, it lives and breathes”

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“There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend: One day, the black will swallow the red.”

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“I wasn't really that interested in objects. I was interested in ideas.”

Book:Sol Lewitt: critical texts

Source: Sol Lewitt: critical texts

“An architect doesn't go off with a shovel and dig his foundation and lay every brick. He's still an artist.”

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Book:Sol Lewitt: critical texts

Source: Sol Lewitt: critical texts

“Artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions that logic cannot reach.”

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Book:Sol LeWitt wall drawing 1176: seven basic colors and all their combinations in a square within a square : for Josef Albers

Source: Sol LeWitt wall drawing 1176: seven basic colors and all their combinations in a square within a square : for Josef Albers

“When words such as painting and sculpture are used, they connote a whole tradition and imply a consequent acceptance of this tradition, thus placing limitations on the artist who would be reluctant to make art that goes beyond the limitations.”

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Book:Sol Lewitt: critical texts

Source: Sol Lewitt: critical texts

“When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.”

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Book:Sol Lewitt: critical texts

Source: Sol Lewitt: critical texts