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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 Art on the Edge (1975)

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More quotes by Harold Rosenberg

Belonging to a generation is one of the lowest forms of solidarity.

The Tradition of the New (1959)

The current demoralization of the art world is attributable at least in part to museum interference, ideological and practical, with ongoing creation in art.

Art on the Edge (1975)

Greatness in art is always a by-product.

Art on the Edge (1975)

Both art and the artist lack identity and define themselves only through their encounter with each other.

Art & Other Serious Matters (1985)

Art has arrived at the paradox that tradition itself requires the occurrence of radical attacks on tradition.

Art on the Edge (1975)

All Harold Rosenberg quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Harold Rosenberg (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.