Statement — June
7, 1943
1. To us art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be
explored only by those willing to take the risks.
2. This
world of imagination is fancy-free and violently opposed to common
sense.
3. It
is our function as artists to make the spectator see the world our
way not his way.
4. We
favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the
large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish
to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they
destroy illusion and reveal truth.
5. It
is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter
what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence
of academicism.
There
is no such thing as a good painting about nothing.
We assert
that the
subject is
crucial and only that subject matter is valid which is
tragic and timeless. That is why we profess spiritual kinship with
primitive and archaic art.
. . .
. . by Mark Rothko, Adolf Gottlieb, Barnett Newman.
