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Harold Rosenberg -
Art
Quotes
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Only conservatives believe that subversion is still being carried on in the
arts
and that society is being shaken by it... Advanced
art
today is no longer a cause – it contains no moral imperative. There is no virtue in clinging to principles and standards, no vice in selling or in selling out.
Harold Rosenberg
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Not only were the minds of artists formed by the university; in the same mold were formed those of the
art
historians, the critics, the curators, and the collectors by whom their work was evaluated. With the rise of Conceptual
art
, the classroom announced its final triumph over the studio.
Harold Rosenberg
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The artist does not exist except as a personification, a figure of speech that represents the sum total of
art
itself. It is painting that is the genius of the painter, poetry of the poet, and a person is a creative artist to the extent that he participates in that genius.
Harold Rosenberg
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As with other modern artists, his readings provided not an organized outlook but a kind of metaphysical hum that surrounded his mental operations. His thinking was truly systematic only when it dealt with achieving the reality of the
art
object as a "creation out of nothing," which was a common theme in New York
art
after the last war and the break with the European past.
Harold Rosenberg
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The internationalization of
art
becomes a factor contributing to the estrangement of
art
from the artist. The sum of works of all times and places stands against him as an entity with objectives and values of its own. In turn, since becoming aware of the organized body of artworks as the obstacle to his own aesthetic self-affirmation, the artist is pushed toward anti-intellectualism and willful dismissal of the
art
of the past.
Harold Rosenberg
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Abandoned by philosophy, politics, and sociology, historical determinism continues to hold out in formalist
art
criticism.
Harold Rosenberg
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Revolution in
art
lies not in the will to destroy but in the revelation of what has already been destroyed.
Art
kills only the dead.
Harold Rosenberg
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How much the work of an artist owes to an
art
movement to which he belongs can never be determined exactly, if only because the movement derives its character from the individual creations of its members.
Harold Rosenberg
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It is not logical for
art
to be logical.
Art
goes against the grain of the times as readily as it goes with it and at the very same moment. Instead of seeking the nearest exit,
art
responds to a new situation by uncovering a labyrinth of problems.
Harold Rosenberg
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The aim of every authentic artist is not to conform to the history of
art
but to release himself from it, in order to replace it with his own history. However the historical pattern is drawn, it will not fit the developing sensibility of the individual.
Harold Rosenberg
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The current demoralization of the
art
world is attributable at least in part to museum interference, ideological and practical, with ongoing creation in
art
.
Harold Rosenberg
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Art
has arrived at the paradox that tradition itself requires the occurrence of radical attacks on tradition.
Harold Rosenberg
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The interval during which a painting is mistaken for the real thing, or a real thing for a painting, is the triumphant moment of trompe l'oeil
art
. The artist appears to be potent as nature, if not superior to it. Almost immediately, though, the spectator's uncertainty is eliminated by his recognition that the counterfeit is counterfeit. Once the illusion is dissolved, what is left is an object that is interesting not as a work of
art
but as a successful simulation of something that is not
art
. The major response to it is curiosity: "How did he do it?"
Harold Rosenberg
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One cannot, however, avoid saying a few words about individuals who lay down the law to
art
in the name of
art
history.
Art
criticism today is beset by
art
historians turned inside out to function as prophets of so-called inevitable trends. A determinism similar to that projected into the evolution of past styles is clamped upon
art
in the making. In this parody of
art
history, value judgments are deduced from a presumed logic of development, and an ultimatum is issued to artists either to accommodate themselves to these values or be banned from the
art
of the future.
Harold Rosenberg
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Abstract
art
as it is conceived at present is a game bequeathed to painting and sculpture by
art
history. One who accepts its premises must consent to limit his imagination to a depressing casuistry regarding the formal requirements of modernism.
Harold Rosenberg
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Exhibitions of minority
art
are often intended to make the minority itself more aware of its collective experience. Reinforcing the common memory of miseries and triumphs will, it is expected, strengthen the unity of the group and its determination to achieve a better future. But emphasizing shared experience as opposed to the artist's consciousness of self (which includes his personal and unshared experience of masterpieces) brings to the fore the tension in the individual artist between being an artist and being a minority artist.
Harold Rosenberg
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Only through apprehending, by means of present-day creations, how
art
is created, can the creations of other periods be genuinely appreciated.
Harold Rosenberg
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If being an anti-
art
artist is difficult, being an anti-
art
art
historian is a hard position indeed. His doctrinal revolutionism brings forth nothing new in
art
but reenacts upheavals on the symbolic plane of language. It provides the consoling belief that overthrows are occurring as in the past, that barriers to creation are being surmounted, and that
art
is pursuing a radical purpose, even if it is only the purpose of doing away with itself.
Harold Rosenberg
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Illusionistic
art
appeals to what the public knows not about
art
but about things. This ability to brush
art
aside is the secret of the popularity of illusionism. Ever since the Greeks told of painted grapes being pecked by real birds, wonder at skill in deceiving the eye has moved more people than appreciation of aesthetic quality. But for
art
to depend exclusively upon reproducing appearances has the disadvantage of requiring that the painting or sculpture conform to the common perception of things.
Harold Rosenberg
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Art
is the laboratory for making new men.
Harold Rosenberg
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Both
art
and the artist lack identity and define themselves only through their encounter with each other.
Harold Rosenberg
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Imitation of the
art
of earlier centuries, as that done by Picasso and Modigliani, is carried on not to perpetuate ancient values but to demonstrate that new aesthetic orders now prevail.
Harold Rosenberg
Quote of the day
I was not sympathetic to the assumption that criminals had radically different motivations from everyone else.
Gary Becker
Harold Rosenberg
Born:
February 2, 1906
Died:
July 11, 1978
(aged 72)
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