Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Kirk Varnedoe

Quote by Kirk Varnedoe

Work

Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Kirk Varnedoe
Kirk Varnedoe

Kirk Varnedoe was a prominent art historian known for his extensive research and commentary on modern art. His influence in the art world was profound, particularly in the field of 20th-century American art. Born on January 18, 1946, Varnedoe passed away on August 15, 2003. more

You May Also Like

“Life will not always be easy. Storms may hit you bit by bit. Sometimes stones will strike as you climb towards the peak. Yet courage, hope, faith, and tenacity will pave your way to victory.”

FaithHopeCourageGift Gugu Mona QuotesGift Gugu Mona PhilosophyGift Gugu Mona LibraryStonesGift Gugu Mona Book ClubGift Gugu Mona MusingsTenacity
Book:Coming to Grips with the Mountains and Valleys of This World
Create image

“Not every change is so subtle. There are chefs in Rome taking the same types of risks other young cooks around the world are using to bend the boundaries of the dining world. At Metamorfosi, among the gilded streets of Parioli, the Columbian-born chef Roy Caceres and his crew turn ink-stained bodies into ravioli skins and sous-vide egg and cheese foam into new-age carbonara and apply the tools of the modernist kitchen to create a broad and abstract interpretation of Italian cuisine. Alba Esteve Ruiz trained at El Celler de Can Roca in Spain, one of the world's most inventive restaurants, before, in 2013, opening Marzapane Roma, where frisky diners line up for a taste of prawn tartare with smoked eggplant cream and linguine cooked in chamomile tea spotted with microdrops of lemon gelée.”

RomeAbstract ArtRestaurantItalian CuisineGastronomy
Book:Pasta, Pane, Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy's Food Culture
Create image

“Noa sleeps with the curtains open, allowing as much moonlight as possible to flood her bedroom, allowing her to see each and every picture on the walls, if only as a pale glimmer. It took Noa weeks to perfect the art display. Reproductions of Monet's gardens at Giverny blanket one wall: thousands of violets- smudges of purples and mauves- and azaleas, poppies, and peonies, tulips and roses, water lilies in pastel pinks floating on serene lakes reflecting weeping willows and shimmers of sunshine. Turner's sunsets adorn another: bright eyes of gold at the center of skies and seas of searing magenta or soft blue. The third wall is splashed with Jackson Pollocks: a hundred different colors streaked and splattered above Noa's bed. The fourth wall is decorated by Rothko: blocks of blue and red and yellow blending and bleeding together. The ceiling is papered with the abstract shapes of Kandinsky: triangles, circles, and lines tumbling over one another in energetic acrobatics.”

ArtistsColorsAbstract ArtPaintingsPaintersNoa Sparrow
Book:The Witches of Cambridge
Create image

“But in my profession I know one miraculous name. You will be very much surprised. This name is Piet Mondrian. That man painted extremely simple panels, where on a seemingly white ground, divided by what seems to merely be black lines of different sizes and some rectangles of color. If you sit in front of that picture or in front of any of his pictures, but you cannot see it quick, you see it certain times. You have to conentrate and suddenly in front of your eyes, the background recedes, the airy, wonderful structure is advancing towards your eyes and you see the green going far and red coming nearer and the yellow going out of sight. And in front of your eyes is the structure. You are assisting at something that becomes in front of your eyes, that's veritably a becoming, you are assisting at the birth of a form. It is miraculous to recreate the form, but to make you see form being born in front of you -- it is a great miracle. [-- Martin A. Ryerson Lecture, 20 February 1951]”

IllusionModern ArtAbstract ArtArt AppreciationVisual Perception
Author:Pavel Tchelitchew
Create image

“But in my profession I know one miraculous name. You will be very much surprised. This name is Piet Mondrian. That man painted extremely simple panels, where on a seemingly white ground, divided by what seems to merely be black lines of different sizes and some rectangles of color. If you sit in front of that picture or in front of any of his pictures, but you cannot see it quick, you see it certain times. You have to concentrate and suddenly in front of your eyes, the background recedes, the airy, wonderful structure is advancing towards your eyes and you see the green going far and red coming nearer and the yellow going out of sight. And in front of your eyes is the structure. You are assisting at something that becomes in front of your eyes, that's veritably a becoming, you are assisting at the birth of a form. It is miraculous to recreate the form, but to make you see form being born in front of you -- it is a great miracle. [-- Martin A. Ryerson Lecture, 20 February 1951]”

IllusionModern ArtAbstract ArtArt AppreciationVisual Perception
Author:Pavel Tchelitchew
Create image