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In my painting, negative space is never arbitrary. (I believe lithographs to be colored marks printed on a ground – the paper and the measure of the ground and the marks are to be considered of equal importance). In my painting, the painting is the subject rather than the subject the painting.

— Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly: Works on Paper (1987)

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More quotes by Ellsworth Kelly

I'm interested in the mass and color, the black and the white, the edges happen because the forms get as quiet as they can be.

There is always for me a dominant figure, I simply don't agree with people who see both readings as possible [of the figure ànd ground]

Ellsworth Kelly: Works on Paper (1987)

The form of my painting is the content.

Ellsworth Kelly: Works on Paper (1987)

I made the photographs just like I draw.. .I wanted the photographs [Kelly made circa 1950 in Paris] to be enlightening to my art..

Making art has first of all to do with honesty. My first lesson was to see objectively, to erase all 'meaning' of the thing seen. Then only, could the real meaning of it be understood and felt.

Ellsworth Kelly: Works on Paper (1987)

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