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Abstract art as it is conceived at present is a game bequeathed to painting and sculpture by art history. One who accepts its premises must consent to limit his imagination to a depressing casuistry regarding the formal requirements of modernism.

Harold Rosenberg

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Harold Rosenberg
Age: 72 †
Born: 1906
Born: February 2
Died: 1978
Died: July 11
Art Critic
Art Historian
Journalist
Philosopher
Teacher
Writer
New York City
New York
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Depressing
Bequeathed
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Modernism
Imagination
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Painting
Sculpture

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The story of Americans is the story of arrested metamorphoses. Those who achieve success come to a halt and accept themselves as they are. Those who fail become resigned and accept themselves as they are.
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Avant-gardism is an addiction that can be appeased only by a revolution in permanence.
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Art has arrived at the paradox that tradition itself requires the occurrence of radical attacks on tradition.
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No dealer, curator, buyer or critic, or any existing combination of these, can be depended on to produce a reputation that is more than a momentary flurry.
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Whoever undertakes to create soon finds himself engaged in creating himself.
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In reality, however, an artist is a product of art
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The struggle to make an absolute statement in an individually conceived vocabulary accounts for the profound tensions inherent in the best modern work.
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Imitation of the art of earlier centuries, as that done by Picasso and Modigliani , is carried on not to perpetuate ancient values but to demonstrate that new aesthetic orders now prevail.
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The big moment came when it was decided to paint...Just To Paint. The gesture on the canvas was a gesture of liberation, from Value- political, aesthetic, moral.
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The aim of every authentic artist is not to conform to the history of art, but to release himself from it in order to replace it with his own history.
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For the artist, fulfillment of self consists not in marching in the ranks of the liberators but in being entered in the roll of the Masters. The artist tends to find himself in the position of a deserter from his social group or, at best, one who collaborates, with secret reservations.
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A painter with prestige among painters is bound to be discovered sooner or later.
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In the United States, revolts tends to be directed against specific situations, rarely against the social structure as a whole.
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What better way to prove that you understand a subject than to make money out of it?
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American time has stretched around the world. It has become the dominant tempo of modern history, especially of the history of Europe.
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An artist is a person who has invented an artist.
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