Quotes from Agnes Martin

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

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.

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

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

Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings.

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.

Beauty is in the mind, not the eye.

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

You sort of underestimate the human being when you say that every least thing that is an abstract experience is spiritual. It isn't. It's just your real self. You can be capable of fantastic abstract experiences, right in this life.

Of all the pitfalls in our paths and the tremendous delays and wanderings off the track I want to say that they are not what they seem to be. I want to say that all that seems like fantastic mistakes are not mistakes, all that seems like error is not error; and it all has to be done. That which seems like a false step is the next step.

The way of an artist is an entirely different way. It is a way of surrender.

143Happiness is being on the beam with life--to feel the pull of life.

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

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?

My paintings are certainly nonobjective. They're just horizontal lines. There's not any hint of nature. And still everybody responds, I think.

That which takes us by surprise-moments of happiness-that is inspiration.

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

Fulfill your potential. That's the way to happiness.

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.

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

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

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.

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