Agnes Martin was an influential Canadian-American abstract painter known for her serene and minimalist artworks. Born in 1912 in Saskatchewan, Canada, she moved to the United States and studied at various art schools, eventually settling in New York City. Martin’s work is characterized by its subtle grids, delicate lines, and restrained color palettes, often inspired by the natural world and her own spiritual beliefs. She became associated with the Abstract Expressionist and Minimalist movements, though her style transcended easy categorization. Martin’s paintings evoke a sense of tranquility and contemplation, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the subtle complexities of her compositions. Despite struggling with mental health issues throughout her life, Martin continued to create art until her death in 2004. Today, her work is celebrated for its timeless beauty and profound emotional resonance, cementing her legacy as one of the most important artists of the 20th century.
Agnes Martin Quotes
1. “Fulfill your potential. That’s the way to happiness.”
— Agnes Martin
2. “I paint with my back to the world.”
— Agnes Martin
3. “I often paint tranquility. If you stop thinking and rest, then a little happiness comes into your mind. At perfect rest you are comfortable.”
— Agnes Martin
4. “It’s not about facts, it’s about feelings. It’s about remembering feelings and happiness. A definition of art is that it makes concrete our most subtle emotions. I think the highest form of art is music. It’s the most abstract of all art expression.”
— Agnes Martin
5. “Happiness is being on the beam with life – to feel the pull of life.”
— Agnes Martin
6. “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.”
— Agnes Martin
7. “When I first made a grid I happened to be thinking of the innocence of trees and then this 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.”
— Agnes Martin
8. “It is commonly thought that everything that is can be put into words.”
— Agnes Martin
9. “It’s through discipline and tremendous disappointment and failure that you arrive at what it is you must paint.”
— Agnes Martin
10. “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.”
— Agnes Martin
11. “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.”
— Agnes Martin
12. “My paintings are certainly nonobjective. They’re just horizontal lines. There’s not any hint of nature. And still everybody responds, I think.”
— Agnes Martin
13. “Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings.”
— Agnes Martin
14. “That which takes us by surprise-moments of happiness-that is inspiration.”
— Agnes Martin
16. “I’m very careful not to have ideas, because they’re inaccurate.”
— Agnes Martin
17. “The enormous pitfall is devotion to oneself instead of to life. All works that are self-devoted are absolutely ineffective.”
— Agnes Martin
18. “I hope I have made it clear that the work is about perfection as we are aware of it in our minds but that the paintings are very far from being perfect – completely removed in fact – even as we ourselves are.”
— Agnes Martin
19. “I think our minds respond to things beyond this world. Take beauty: it’s a very mysterious thing, isn’t it? I think it’s a response in our minds to perfection. It’s too bad, people not realizing that their minds expand beyond this world.”
— Agnes Martin
20. “Beauty and happiness and life are all the same and they are pervasive, unattached and abstract and they are our only concern. They are immeasurable, completely lacking in substance. They are perfect and sublime. This is the subject matter of art.”
— Agnes Martin
21. “When you look in your mind you find it covered with a lot of rubbishy thoughts. You have to penetrate these and hear what your mind is telling you to do. Such work is original work.”
— Agnes Martin
22. “Anything can be painted without representation.”
— Agnes Martin
23. “I used to meditate until I learned to stop thinking.”
— Agnes Martin
24. “Inspiration is there all the time. For everyone whose mind is not clouded over with thoughts whether they realize it or not.”
— Agnes Martin
25. “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.”
— Agnes Martin
26. “You can’t make a perfect painting. We can see perfection in our minds. But we can’t make a perfect painting.”
— Agnes Martin
27. “My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.”
— Agnes Martin
28. “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.”
— Agnes Martin
29. “What I say is that we’re capable of a transcendent response, and I think it makes us happy. And I do think beauty produces a transcendent response.”
— Agnes Martin
30. “Pollock was terrific. I think he freed himself of all kinds of worry about this world. Ran around and dripped, and then he managed to express ecstasy.”
— Agnes Martin
31. “The way of an artist is an entirely different way. It is a way of surrender.”
— Agnes Martin
