James Rosenquist Quotes

History is remembered by its art, not its war machines.

Paintings are memories. Memories of the painter who painted them. Memories that can be shared as well. Paintings are things to remember things by.

I'm always trying to do things that no one has ever seen before.

I think being an artist is having the courage to be original. Many great artists, including Picasso, have all been influenced by the great master paintings... And then finally, they leap, they take off... they become themselves. Then it looks like they just came out of nowhere. Just like 'Pow!'

We are attacked by radio and television and visual communication at such speed and with such force that painting seems very old fashioned ...why shouldn't it be done with that power and gusto [of advertising], with that impact.

I tell young people that the greatest paintings in museums are made with minerals mixed in oil smeared on cloth with the hair from the back of a pig's ear. It's that simple.

I was probably born with the ability to draw, but that does not make you an artist.

In many ways my paintings are about energy — both in how they are created and the image itself.

Whenever I got a new studio I made the largest possible painting, and since the ceiling was low, the painting became horizontal. As I changed studios and got larger spaces, I made bigger paintings.

If you are close to it, a big painting is just a feeling around you, that's all.

It fascinates me to create beautiful paintings with the simplest means.