The one object of fifty years of abstract art is to present art-as-art and as nothing else, to make it into the one thing it is only, separating and … - Ad Reinhardt

" "

The one object of fifty years of abstract art is to present art-as-art and as nothing else, to make it into the one thing it is only, separating and defining it more and more, making it purer and emptier, more absolute and exclusive – non-objective, non-representational, non-figurative, non-imagist, non-expressionist, non-subjective. The only and one way to say what abstract art or art-as-art is, is to say what it is not.

English
Collect this quote

About Ad Reinhardt

Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt ("Ad" Reinhardt) (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was a painter, writer, and pioneer of conceptual and minimal art. He was also a critic of abstract expressionism.

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Adolph Frederick Reinhardt Adolph Frederick. Reinhardt Adolph F. Reinhardt Adolph Dietmar Friedrich Reinhardt Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt Ad F. Reinhardt Adolph Friedrich Reinhardt
Works in ChatGPT, Claude, or Any AI

Add semantic quote search to your AI assistant via MCP. One command setup.

Related quotes. More quotes will automatically load as you scroll down, or you can use the load more buttons.

Additional quotes by Ad Reinhardt

And today many artists like myself refuse to be involved in some ideas. In painting – for me – no fooling-the-eye, no window-hole-in-the wall, no illusions, no representations, no associations, no distortions, no paint-caricaturing, no dream pictures of dripping, no delirium trimmings, no sadism or slashing, no therapy, no kicking-the-effigy, no clowning, no acrobatics, no heroics, no self-pity, no guilt.. ..no abstraction of everything, no nonsense, no involvements, no confusing painting with everything that is no painting.

Go Premium

Support Quotewise while enjoying an ad-free experience and premium features.

View Plans
The one art that is abstract and pure enough to have the one problem and possibility, in our time and timelessness, of the 'one single grand original problem' is pure abstract painting. Abstract painting is not just another school or movement or style but the first truly unmannered and untrammeled and un-entangled, styleless, universal painting. No other art or painting is detached or empty or immaterial enough.

Loading...