"I began to draw from plant life and found the flat leaf forms were easier to do than thighs and breasts. I wanted to flatten. The plant drawings from that time until now have always been linear. They are exact observations of the form of the leaf or flower of fruit seen. Nothing is changed or added, no surface marking. They are not an approximation of the thing seen nor are they a personal expression or an abstraction. They are an impersonal observation of the form. When I applied the procedure to other things such as the vaulting of Notre Dame [church in Paris] or a patch of tar on the road, the subject of the drawings and the subsequent paintings were not recognizable even though they were exact copies of the thing seen. I wanted to use things that had no pictorial use."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
LGBT peoplePeople from New York (state)PrintmakersPainters from the United StatesSculptors from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
pp. 25-26 : 'Notes from 1969'
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ellsworth_Kelly
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Ellsworth Kelly
Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 - December 28, 2015) was an American painter and sculptor associated with Hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and the Minimalist school. His art demonstrates unassuming techniques that emphasize the simplicity of form.
31 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Ellsworth Kelly →
Related Quotes
"This book [full of linoleum prints] will be an alphabet of pictorial elements without text, which shall aim at establ…"
"I'm interested in the mass and color, the black and the white, the edges happen because the forms get as quiet as the…"
"I like to work from things that I see, whether they're man-made or natural or a combination of the two.. .The things …"
"Simple, I don't like the word simple. I like easy better. I want to forget about the technique. I sweat and worry but…"
"I usually let them [his drawings] lies around for a long time. I have to get to really like it. And then when I do th…"
"I felt that everything is beautiful, but [not?] that which man tries intentionally to make beautiful; that the work o…"
"Soon after completing the 'La Combe' series [circa 1950] I had a dream in which I was assisted by many children on a …"
"Like the postcard collages, the colors are shapes in a landscape. In this case [his collage 'Napoleon at Würtsburg'] …"
"I made the photographs just like I draw.. .I wanted the photographs [Kelly made circa 1950 in Paris] to be enlighteni…"
"My collages are only ideas for things much larger – things to cover walls. In fact all the things that I have done I …"