John Baldessari Quotes

Simplicity is the essence of the great, the true, the beautiful in art.

The Japanese have a wonderful sense of design and a refinement in their art. They try to produce beautiful paintings with the minimum number of strokes.

I do not see any essential difference between abstract and primitive art. Both are simple and sincere. Naturally, we should not generalize in these matters: It is the individual artist that counts.

Conciseness in art is essential and a refinement. The concise man makes one think; the verbose bores. Always work towards conciseness.

We favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth.

So that’s our approach. Very simple, and we’re really shooting for Museum of Modern Art quality. The way we’re running the company, the product design, the advertising, it all comes down to this: Let’s make it simple. Really simple.” Apple’s design mantra would remain the one featured on its first brochure: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Generally, I am opposed to painting which is concerned with conceptions of simplicity. Everything looks busy to me.

Limited means often constitute the charm and force of primitive painting. Extension, on the contrary, leads the arts to decadence.

Every work of art has one indispensable mark ... the center of it is simple, however much the fulfillment may be complicated.

Simplicity is the greatest adornment of art.

A main part of the struggle of art has been to make an art that is direct, simple, humane, unconnected with powers that be in their essence... To the degree that it is connected with the bourgeoisie via the marketplace and so on is not necessarily an artist's problem.

"Simple" is a tricky word, it can mean a lot of things. To us, it just means clear. That doesn't always mean total reduction, or minimalism - sometimes, to make things clearer, you have to add a step.

Albert Durer, the famous painter, used to say he had no pleasure in pictures that were painted with many colors, but in those which were painted with a choice simplicity. So it is with me as to sermons.

What I definitely learnt from Michael Jackson is that simple is almost always better. As a songwriter, as an artist period.

Art, it seems to me, should simplify.

Simple design, intense content.

I started to notice that simpleness is divine. I think we all start trying to use very complex harmonies and rhythms and all that because of a certain kind of ambition. But I was always trying to create something simple.

A work should convey its entire meaning by itself, imposing it on the spectator even before he knows what the subject is.

When you say: The simple truth is this, and then you pause, and then you finish the sentence, people stop, and they think specifically about what you're saying. And it's, in essence, trying to boil it down to something that's very understandable and meaningful.

The same person is coming through in a different medium.... My art is simple, direct and definite.

But all categories of art, idealistic or realistic, surrealistic or constructivist (a new form of idealism) must satisfy a simple test (or they are in no sense works of art): they must persist as objects of contemplation.

Whoever uses the spirit that is in him creatively is an artist. To make living itself an art, that is the goal.

My goal has always been to slow down as slowly as possible. It's as simple as that.

I work with few colors, what creates the illusion of quantity is that they fell in the right place.

The problem is not software 'friendliness'. It is conceptual clarity. A globe does not say, 'good morning'. It is simple and clear, not 'friendly'.