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Agnes Martin: Writings / Schriften
Now in its third printing, this collection of letters, journals, and lectures is the standard collection of writings by the artist. "I suggest that people who like to be alone, who walk alone, will perhaps be serious workers in the art field."--Agnes Martin.
176 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 10, 2021
A recurring idea throughout these writings is that art can convey an awareness of perfection in the mind—perfection remembered, attempted but never fully realized in the creative process. ‘To feel insufficient, to experience disappointment and defeat in waiting for inspiration is the natural state of mind of an artist’ writes Martin, whose views on inspiration are especially compelling.
Inspiration is pervasive but not a power.
It's a peaceful thing. (…)
Do not think that it is unique.
If it were unique no one would be able to respond to your work.
Do not think it is reserved for a few or anything like that.
It is an untroubled mind.
Of course we know that an untroubled state of mind cannot
last. So we say that inspiration comes and goes but really it is
there all the time waiting for us to be untroubled again. We can
therefore say that it is pervasive. Young children are more
untroubled than adults and have many more inspirations. All
the moments of inspiration added together make what we call
sensibility.
I could keep quoting from these writings because each page of notes, poems, stories and random musings contain wonderful bits of wisdom. Instead you can access a pdf of the book on Scribd.
The art of Agnes Martin exudes stillness. It opens a vast space for inner experience and direct awareness that she likened to an undisturbed view of the ocean.
This book achieves much the same effect through the meditative quality of the text. A great read for anyone in creative work or with an interest in mindfulness and creativity.
Inspiration is pervasive but not a power.
It's a peaceful thing. (…)
Do not think that it is unique.
If it were unique no one would be able to respond to your work.
Do not think it is reserved for a few or anything like that.
It is an untroubled mind.
Of course we know that an untroubled state of mind cannot
last. So we say that inspiration comes and goes but really it is
there all the time waiting for us to be untroubled again. We can
therefore say that it is pervasive. Young children are more
untroubled than adults and have many more inspirations. All
the moments of inspiration added together make what we call
sensibility.
I could keep quoting from these writings because each page of notes, poems, stories and random musings contain wonderful bits of wisdom. Instead you can access a pdf of the book on Scribd.
The art of Agnes Martin exudes stillness. It opens a vast space for inner experience and direct awareness that she likened to an undisturbed view of the ocean.
This book achieves much the same effect through the meditative quality of the text. A great read for anyone in creative work or with an interest in mindfulness and creativity.
September 17, 2024
I can't help but read this as a sort of holy scripture. I want to save up money to buy my own copy so I can refer back to it over and over again. How can someone see so clearly?
October 20, 2009
read somewhere this book was 'essential and sever.' so I went out and tracked it down, pre- Amazon, out of print, tracked it down.
this is the book you never stop reading. the book of common prayer for the artist.....
Agnes is our Quaker Saint, if the Quakers would allow such indulgences.
her writing squares her work. she is a whole being.
she talks of always keeping the dragon at bay
Absolutely essential book in my life. One of those books I regard as a magic object when I catch a of breath of it out of the corner of my eye. It always holds the goods.
and it is the book, like Whitman, you have the urge to gift. like the way Bill Clinton gave both Hillary and Monica Lewinsky a copy of Leaves of Grass.....
this is the book you never stop reading. the book of common prayer for the artist.....
Agnes is our Quaker Saint, if the Quakers would allow such indulgences.
her writing squares her work. she is a whole being.
she talks of always keeping the dragon at bay
Absolutely essential book in my life. One of those books I regard as a magic object when I catch a of breath of it out of the corner of my eye. It always holds the goods.
and it is the book, like Whitman, you have the urge to gift. like the way Bill Clinton gave both Hillary and Monica Lewinsky a copy of Leaves of Grass.....
November 3, 2023
pervading thought-images:
inspiration as a surrender to the inevitable in one's own mind,
the sense of adventure as an obedience to life, a full response to our personal awareness of beauty
—beauty as a command
"(...) being on the beam with life —to feel the pull of life."
September 22, 2023
leest als te onzin // niet hoe ik kunst ervaar
October 12, 2011
I found this on scribd, since it was $70 to buy an actual copy. I really enjoyed Agnes Martin's strange mix of mysticism, story telling, and common sense, (particularly the latter!) Good advice for artists...if you're not a huge fan of conceptual art. I'm always amazed that the most spiritual and mystical artists often produce extremely minimalist and sharply geometric work. What does it mean?
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July 31, 2024On light, the perfection of the mind, failure. On the awareness and erasure of self, inner experience and stillness, and new ways of seeing. On becoming a grain of sand. A clear path to understanding her work and how it mirrors the vision of clarity conducting her life, and a guide to experience it beyond comprehension. Agnes was the living desert if there ever was one.
June 18, 2015
her writing reminds me a bit of John Cage, which in matters of art, creativity and spirituality, i think of as very high praise.
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January 16, 2023“when we wake up in the morning we are inspired to do some certain thing and we do do it. the difficulty lies in the fact that it may turn out well or it may not turn out well. if it turns out well we have a tendency to think that we have successfully followed our inspiration and if it does not turn out well we have a tendency to think that we have lost our inspiration.” >> touché!
also this:
“moments of perfection are indescribable but a few things can be said about them. at such times we are suddenly very happy and we wonder why life ever seemed troublesome. In an instant we can see the road ahead free from all difficulties and we think that we will never lose it again. all this and a great deal more in barely a moment, and then it is gone.
but all such moments are stored in the mind. they are called sensibility or awareness of perfection in the mind.”
also this:
“moments of perfection are indescribable but a few things can be said about them. at such times we are suddenly very happy and we wonder why life ever seemed troublesome. In an instant we can see the road ahead free from all difficulties and we think that we will never lose it again. all this and a great deal more in barely a moment, and then it is gone.
but all such moments are stored in the mind. they are called sensibility or awareness of perfection in the mind.”
July 4, 2023
i wanted to give this 4, but i think i just fundamentally disagree w some of her philosophies/principles, but i rly do love and respect her art/writing. it was a lil repetitive, and she contradicts herself a fair amount, but that was maybe the beauty of this text, felt like it was a living, breathing document, organic and open and not polished within an inch of its life.
December 27, 2020
Metų atradimas. Imčiau į negyvenamą salą.
September 23, 2019
Drawn in by reading about her being a recluse mystic painter, I enjoyed her perspective on art - the artist aspires for beauty, not for any political agenda. I loved what she wrote about solitude, that it is a prerequisite for the artist and for the spiritual path. This is concerned with finding your own way in life, to wholly trust inspiration, and to live your life true to yourself.
Cradled on the mountain I can rest
Solitude and freedom are the same
under every fallen leaf
Others do not really exist in solitude, I do not exist
no thinking of others even when they are there, no interruption
a mystic and a solitary person are the same
Night, shelterless, wandering
I, like the deer, looked
finding less and less
living is grazing
memory is chewing cud
wandering away from everything
giving up everything
not me anymore, any of it
retired ego, wandering
on the mountain
no more conquests, no longer an enemy to anyone
ego retired, wandering
no longer a friend, master, slave
all the opposites dead to the world and himself unresponsible
perhaps I can now really enjoy sailing
adventure in the dark
very exciting
---
When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye it is in the mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection.
We respond to beauty with emotion. Beauty speaks a message to us. We are confused about this message because of distractions …
It is not in the role of an artist to worry about life—to feel responsible for creating a better world. This is a very serious distraction. All of your conditioning has been directed toward intellectual living. This is useless in art work. All human knowedge is useless in art work. Concepts, relationships, categories, classifications, deductions are distractions of mind that we wish to hold free for inspiration …
The way of an artist is an entirely different way. It is a way of surrender. He must surrender to his own mind.
Cradled on the mountain I can rest
Solitude and freedom are the same
under every fallen leaf
Others do not really exist in solitude, I do not exist
no thinking of others even when they are there, no interruption
a mystic and a solitary person are the same
Night, shelterless, wandering
I, like the deer, looked
finding less and less
living is grazing
memory is chewing cud
wandering away from everything
giving up everything
not me anymore, any of it
retired ego, wandering
on the mountain
no more conquests, no longer an enemy to anyone
ego retired, wandering
no longer a friend, master, slave
all the opposites dead to the world and himself unresponsible
perhaps I can now really enjoy sailing
adventure in the dark
very exciting
---
When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye it is in the mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection.
We respond to beauty with emotion. Beauty speaks a message to us. We are confused about this message because of distractions …
It is not in the role of an artist to worry about life—to feel responsible for creating a better world. This is a very serious distraction. All of your conditioning has been directed toward intellectual living. This is useless in art work. All human knowedge is useless in art work. Concepts, relationships, categories, classifications, deductions are distractions of mind that we wish to hold free for inspiration …
The way of an artist is an entirely different way. It is a way of surrender. He must surrender to his own mind.
May 1, 2020
Hold fast to your life, to beauty and happiness and inspiration, and to obedience to inspiration.
Do not imitate others or seek advice anywhere except from your own mind. No-one can help you. No-one knows what your life should be. No-one knows what your life or life itself should be because it is in the process of being created.
oh, there was so much to learn from this little book. agnes martin is a mentor in happiness, inspiration, beauty and perfection. her ways of thinking are so different from how were taught to think that they had to be said, written, and read by many. i enjoyed this book for more than the first half.
however, i began to disagree with her sentiments that "it is not in the role of an artist to worry about life, to feel responsible for creating a better world," and that an artist must "give up all reform and political considerations" for it is in the way of art/beauty/perfection. in this world we can't afford to be non-political, and if that means rejecting happiness through perfection then so be it.
Do not imitate others or seek advice anywhere except from your own mind. No-one can help you. No-one knows what your life should be. No-one knows what your life or life itself should be because it is in the process of being created.
oh, there was so much to learn from this little book. agnes martin is a mentor in happiness, inspiration, beauty and perfection. her ways of thinking are so different from how were taught to think that they had to be said, written, and read by many. i enjoyed this book for more than the first half.
however, i began to disagree with her sentiments that "it is not in the role of an artist to worry about life, to feel responsible for creating a better world," and that an artist must "give up all reform and political considerations" for it is in the way of art/beauty/perfection. in this world we can't afford to be non-political, and if that means rejecting happiness through perfection then so be it.
June 10, 2024
The publication is beautifully done. The writings go from really indulging - I got very irritated at points as I sometimes really didn’t agree with her philosophy - to very poetic, awing and precise -yet some passages I had to read out loud to friends . The essays where Agnes talks about the needed solitude of being an artist and how art should stand outside the political seem written from a one sided perspective that clearly talks from a privileged position. Her notes and poems though show a beautiful heart, a woman that’s devoted and has insight in the beauty and reality of making art (according to Agnes: beauty is not the representation of perfection but the awareness of oneself of that perfection. the artists see themselves in the work). This book therefor deserves both five and two stars, lezersprijzen with giving it a three star review.
August 14, 2022
“When I think of art I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye it is in the mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection.”
This is not a book to read in a sitting. Although it has very few pages, every sentence here needs to be read once, twice and thought about. Not that it is complicated, but rather complex. Agnes Martin talks about inspiration, about art, how to understand it. What is beauty and perfection. What is pride. Everything intertwines to create a perfect picture of her work. How to understand it. How to feel it.
“My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.”
“I think everyone is born 100 percent ego, and after that it's just adjustment.”
This is not a book to read in a sitting. Although it has very few pages, every sentence here needs to be read once, twice and thought about. Not that it is complicated, but rather complex. Agnes Martin talks about inspiration, about art, how to understand it. What is beauty and perfection. What is pride. Everything intertwines to create a perfect picture of her work. How to understand it. How to feel it.
“My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.”
“I think everyone is born 100 percent ego, and after that it's just adjustment.”
February 26, 2021
Poetic notes composed in a dense, aphoristic manner which investigate the concepts of beauty and perception and work/creation and awareness/consciousness. Through them, Agnes Martin intends to create impressions on the way one thinks of art and life alike (as well as what it is to live as a committed artist - what is an artist? what is living?). The type of poems where you glean something new from each reread. I wanna make annotations all over them.
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March 1, 2021I've never agreed and disagreed with someone's views on art so much. She's got some underlying controversial opinions, but it was also inspiring seeing someone's devotion to art.
To sum up, I loved this until her political views showed up.
September 1, 2021
“To progress in life you must give up the things that you do not like. Give up doing the things that you do not like to do. You must find the things that you do like. The things that are acceptable to your mind.”
June 3, 2020
A lovely collection of Agnes Martin's writings. Quite repetitive at times, but understandable as the writing is very much "stream of consciousness".
October 18, 2022
no price should be put on this slim masterpiece, but scarce and expensive in paperback. luckily, safe and easy pdf:
https://archive.org/details/AgnesMart...
https://archive.org/details/AgnesMart...
May 27, 2025
Soul to soul
August 6, 2025
Great insights into Agnes Martin's work and philosophy.
March 31, 2023
Excellent
November 19, 2015
The painter Agnes Martin has always been an inspiration to me ever since I purchased the book called “Writings.” About her art, I know very little, and have never seen her paintings in person. Yet, thankfully, her words from lectures to art students have been collected and compiled in “Writings,” so that her personal pursuit of self-discovery and truth in art and life remains forever recorded.
If I had to sum up in just a few words the main ideas that Agnes Martin talks about, I would say inspiration, purpose, and happiness. And although she addresses art students in her lectures, I think her words are for anyone who is searching for meaning in life.
“An artist’s life is adventurous. One new thing after another. I have been talking directly to artists but it applies to all. Take advantage of the awareness of perfection in your mind. See perfection in every thing around you. See if you can discover your true feelings when listening to music. Make happiness your goal. The way to discover the truth about this life is to discover yourself. Find out exactly what you want in life. Ask your mind for inspiration about everything.”
What I especially love about Agnes Martin is her faith in the process of Life itself. She urges us to let inspiration be our guide and to not worry about making mistakes.
“Many people think that if they are attuned to fate, all their inspirations will lead them toward what they want and need. But inspiration is really just the guide to the next thing and may be what we call success or failure.”
Our successes or failures are merely the result of our courage to move forward and keep trying. Thus, our happiness comes not from the results of our efforts, but from the process of living an inspired life according to our purpose.
“There is a purpose in our lives and it is in operation every minute. When we are right on the track we are rewarded with joy. We can know the whole truth with a request to our minds. If we are completely without direction we can withdraw and our minds will tell us the next step to take.”
I find her convictions about Life contagious. I suppose that’s because I share many of her views. Ironically, her views, if it had been up to her, would have never been recorded. According to the preface, Agnes Martin was known to discard things that were of no more importance to her, including her paintings. One can only conclude, that what really mattered to Agnes Martin was her dedication and discipline to contribute to the process of Life as an artist, to express the beauty she saw in everything.
“The measure of your life is the amount of beauty and happiness of which you are aware.”
If I had to sum up in just a few words the main ideas that Agnes Martin talks about, I would say inspiration, purpose, and happiness. And although she addresses art students in her lectures, I think her words are for anyone who is searching for meaning in life.
“An artist’s life is adventurous. One new thing after another. I have been talking directly to artists but it applies to all. Take advantage of the awareness of perfection in your mind. See perfection in every thing around you. See if you can discover your true feelings when listening to music. Make happiness your goal. The way to discover the truth about this life is to discover yourself. Find out exactly what you want in life. Ask your mind for inspiration about everything.”
What I especially love about Agnes Martin is her faith in the process of Life itself. She urges us to let inspiration be our guide and to not worry about making mistakes.
“Many people think that if they are attuned to fate, all their inspirations will lead them toward what they want and need. But inspiration is really just the guide to the next thing and may be what we call success or failure.”
Our successes or failures are merely the result of our courage to move forward and keep trying. Thus, our happiness comes not from the results of our efforts, but from the process of living an inspired life according to our purpose.
“There is a purpose in our lives and it is in operation every minute. When we are right on the track we are rewarded with joy. We can know the whole truth with a request to our minds. If we are completely without direction we can withdraw and our minds will tell us the next step to take.”
I find her convictions about Life contagious. I suppose that’s because I share many of her views. Ironically, her views, if it had been up to her, would have never been recorded. According to the preface, Agnes Martin was known to discard things that were of no more importance to her, including her paintings. One can only conclude, that what really mattered to Agnes Martin was her dedication and discipline to contribute to the process of Life as an artist, to express the beauty she saw in everything.
“The measure of your life is the amount of beauty and happiness of which you are aware.”
January 17, 2019
There is in reality no need for self-sacrifice and no call for it. Do not settle for the experience of others. If you follow others you are in reality at a standstill, because their experience is in the past. That is circling. Even following your own past experience, is circling. Know your own response to your own work and to the work of others.
Agnes Martin's collection of letters, journals, and lectures seems hopelessly out of print, which is a shame since it is a beautiful perspective on art and process. Themes of imperfection and the misguided importance of inspiration are prevalent throughout. She has a simply yet startling deep manner of writing, which feels appropriate in the context of her visual work. I can't understand how a publisher hasn't picked up this up to reprint, but PDFs are not too hard to find online.
Read another quote on my booklog
Agnes Martin's collection of letters, journals, and lectures seems hopelessly out of print, which is a shame since it is a beautiful perspective on art and process. Themes of imperfection and the misguided importance of inspiration are prevalent throughout. She has a simply yet startling deep manner of writing, which feels appropriate in the context of her visual work. I can't understand how a publisher hasn't picked up this up to reprint, but PDFs are not too hard to find online.
Read another quote on my booklog
April 18, 2015
Her meditations on art and the relationship of the viewer are some of the most thoughtful and kind I've ever read. As uncompromising as she was in regards to her own life and work, this is a gift for the up and coming artist, or any artist that is struggling in the doldrums. Lives in my studio, read a bizillion times.
July 30, 2008
this is one of my all time favorite books. It was like my little bible for a while. I have lost this book, and I swear its going to be the death of me trying to get another copy. If you ever come across this book don't think twice, and if you don't want it for yourself, think of me at least!
February 29, 2008
One of my favorite artist's, a book of artist's writings that gave me strength on my own through grad school.
September 12, 2008
sublime, real
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November 28, 2008I absolutely love this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews