AGNES MARTIN

I'm very careful not to have ideas, because they're inaccurate.

The value of art is in the observer.

Artwork is a representation of our devotion to life.

Happiness is being on the beam with life - to feel the pull of life.

I don't think the way to succeed is by doing something aggressive. Aggression is weak-minded.

The worst thing you can think about when you're working is yourself.

My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.

When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye it is in the mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection.

My paintings are certainly nonobjective. They're just horizontal lines.

I think everyone is born 100 percent ego, and after that it's just adjustment.

When I first made a grid, I happened to be thinking of the innocence of trees, and then a grid came into my mind and I thought it represented innocence, and I still do, and so I painted it and then I was satisfied. I thought, 'This is my vision.'

You can't make a perfect painting. We can see perfection in our minds. But we can't make a perfect painting.

To progress in life you must give up the things you do not like. Give up doing the things that you do not like to do. You must find the things that you do like. The things that are acceptable to your mind.

One thing I like about Zen. It doesn't believe in achievement.

People who look at my painting say that it makes them happy, like the feeling when you wake up in the morning. And happiness is the goal, isn't it?

Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings.

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.

The Minimalists are idealist. They want to minimize themselves in favor of the ideal... But I just can't. You see, my paintings are not cool.

The main thing in making art often is letting go of your expectation and your idea.

Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye, it is in the mind.

The enormous pitfall is devotion to oneself instead of to life. All works that are self-devoted are absolutely ineffective.

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.

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

Inspiration is there all the time. For everyone whose mind is not clouded over with thoughts whether they realize it or not.

I often paint tranquility. If you stop thinking and rest, then a little happiness comes into your mind. At perfect rest you are comfortable.