“Short quote of Newman about his first 'Zip' paintings, c. 1946-1948”

— Barnett Newman

1940 - 1950

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Barnett Newman 25

American artist 1905–1970

Donald Judd (1928–1994) artist

Source: 1960s, "Specific Objects," 1965, p. 77. Partly quoted in: Washington Gallery of Modern Art (Washington, D.C.), ‎Barbara Rose (1967) New aesthetic: Exhibition May 6-June 25, 1967. p. 45
Context: A work needs only to be interesting. Most works finally have one quality. In earlier art the complexity was displayed and built the quality. In recent painting the complexity was in the format and the few main shapes, which had been made according to various interests and problems. A painting by Newman is finally no simpler than one by Cezanne. In the three-dimensional work the whole thing is made according to complex purposes, and these are not scattered but asserted by one form. It isn't necessary for a work to have a lot of things to look at, to compare, to analyze one by one, to contemplate. The thing as a whole, its quality as a whole, is what is interesting. The main things are alone and are more intense, clear and powerful.

“The first sign of senility is that a man forgets his theorems, the second sign is that he forgets to zip up, the third sign is that he forgets to zip down.”

Paul Erdős (1913–1996) Hungarian mathematician and freelancer

Though Erdős used this remark, it is said to have originated with his friend Stanisław Ulam, as reported in The Man Who Loved Only Numbers : The Story of Paul Erdős and the Search for Mathematical Truth (1998) by Paul Hoffman
Variants:
The first sign of senility is when a man forgets his theorems. The second sign is when he forgets to zip up. The third sign is when he forgets to zip down.
As quoted in Wonders of Numbers : Adventures in Mathematics, Mind, and Meaning (2002) by Clifford A. Pickover, p. 64
There are three signs of senility. The first sign is that a man forgets his theorems. The second sign is that he forgets to zip up. The third sign is that he forgets to zip down.
Misattributed

“The first sign of senility is that a man forgets his theorems, the second sign is that he forgets to zip up, the third sign is that he forgets to zip down.”

Stanislaw Ulam (1909–1984) Polish-American mathematician

Attributed in Paul Hoffman, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdős and the Search for Mathematical Truth (1998)
This has also been attributed, with variants, to Paul Erdős, who repeated the remark.

“[to see the painting].. as an object, as a real thing in itself. (quote on his Flag-paintings)”

Jasper Johns (1930) American artist

Quote from: Abstract Art, Anna Moszynska, Thames and Hudson 1990, p. 200
1950s

“We speak of concrete and not abstract painting because nothing is more concrete, more real than a line, a colour, a surface. [quote of Van Doesburg, c. 1925]”

Theo van Doesburg (1883–1931) Dutch architect, painter, draughtsman and writer

quoted in 'Abstract Art', Anna Moszynska, Thames and Hudson 1990, p. 107
Hans Arp used some years earlier already this new term: 'concrete art' as a rejection of the term 'abstract art'
1920 – 1926

“[about his painting 'Approaching a CityWell' Hopper painted in 1946:] I've always been interested in approaching a big city in a train, and I can't exactly describe the sensations, but they're entirely human and perhaps have nothing to do with aesthetics. There is a certain fear and anxiety and a great visual interest in the things that one sees coming into a great city. I think that's about all I can say about it.”

Edward Hopper (1882–1967) prominent American realist painter and printmaker

1941 - 1967
Source: 'Oral history interview with Edward Hopper' (1959, June 17), conducted by John Morse; 'Archives of American Art', Smithsonian Institution

“Mentioned as one of Durante's aquaintences, usually introduced in a boisterous manner, as quoted in Current Biography : Who's News and Why (1946) by Anna Rothe, p. 168”

Jimmy Durante (1893–1980) American jazz singer, pianist, comedian and actor

“In the first piece that you Beckett wrote about me [circa 1946], you never once used the word color. That was important. I was struck by it.”

Bram van Velde (1895–1981) Dutch painter

1960's, Conversations with Samuel Beckett and Bram van Velde' (1965 - 1969)

“I only identified with (Rothko's seriousness, which was absolutely to be admired. At that time, in the 1970's Barnett Newman, with his non-hierarchical structures, his non-relational Color Field painting, seemed more interesting because his work was less pretty.”

Gerhard Richter (1932) German visual artist, born 1932

Source: after 2000, Doubt and belief in painting' (2003), pp. 96, note 31

“In 1946 it was the first time I saw a Van Gogh, a painting from his years in France. It was excactly what I had always felt here [in the fields of Friesland]: infinity, the unimaginable. I was bewildered and thought: who has been painting here for God's sake? Pink stripes in a green sky, you can't imagine! Ultramarine and carmine in the soil with a big yellow sun behind it..”

Jopie Huisman (1922–2000) Dutch painter

translation, Fons Heijnsbroek, 2018
version in original Dutch / citaat van Jopie Huisman, in het Nederlands: In 1946 zag ik voor het eerst een Van Gogh, uit z'n Franse tijd. Dàt was wat ik hier [in Friesland] altijd gevoeld had: de oneindigheid, het onvoorstelbare. Ik was verbouwereerd, [en] dacht: wie is hier in godsnaam bezig geweest? Roze strepen in een groene lucht, moet je es nagaan. Ultramarijn en karmijn in de bodem, een grote gele zon erachter..
Mens & Gevoelens: Jopie Huisman', 1993

“Short quote of Newman about his first 'Zip' paintings, c. 1946-1948”

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Barnett Newman 25

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