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William Baziotes Quotes
1912–1963 United States
William Baziotes (June 11, 1912 – June 6, 1963) was an American painter influenced by Surrealism and was a contributor to Abstract Expressionism. He participated in discussions and exhibitions of the New York School.
United States Artists Painters Also known as: Baziotes, William
Random William Baziotes quote
13 quotes
The eye seems to be responding to something living.
One can begin a picture and carry it through and stop it and do nothing about the title at all.
Abstract Expressionist Painting in America (1983)
One hundred artists introduce us to one hundred worlds.
Abstract Expressionist Painting in America (1983)
I can not evolve any concrete theory about painting. What happens on the canvas is unpredictable and surprising to me.
Abstract Expressionist Painting in America (1983)
There is always an unconscious collaboration among artists.. ..the artist who imagine himself a Robinson Crusoe is either a primitive or a fool.
The large gray spiked form rising from the bottom of the picture is to me the symbol of death and ruin. And finally the black ovoid form is the symbol of fire, lava and destruction.
As for the subject matter in my painting...it is very often an incidental thing in the background, elusive and unclear, that really stirred me.
In the beginning I drew and painted from nature in order to know her. Then later, only to fall under her spell. And today, to let her mirror my thoughts and feelings.
To be inspired. That is the thing.
Let the poet dream his dreams. Yet, the poet must look at the world; must enter into other men's lives; must look at the earth and the sky, must examine the dust in the street; must walk through the world and his mirror.
I consider my painting finished when my eyes goes to a particular spot on the canvas. But if I put the picture away about thirty feet on the wall and the movements keep returning to me and the eye seems to be responding to something living, then it is finished.
Artists' Session at Studio 35 (1950)
I think the reason we [Baziotes himself and Richard Lippold ] begin in a different way, is that this particular time has gotten to a point where the artist feels like a gambler. He does something on the canvas and takes a chance in the hope that something important will be revealed.
Artists' Session at Studio 35 (1950)
The emphasis on flora, fauna, and beings makes the exhibit a most intriguing and artistic one for it brings forth those strange memories and psychic feelings that mystify and fascinate all of us. [his remark in 1957]