63 Quotes by Ellsworth Kelly

Matisse draws what I call the essence of the plants. He leaves a shape open. He'll do a leaf and not close it. Everybody used to say, oh, I got it all from Matisse, and I said, 'Not really.'

All my work comes from perceiving. I kept seeing things that were brooding in me. I'm not a geometric artist.

I've always wanted... I wanted to give people joy.

When I see a white piece of paper, I feel I've got to draw. And drawing, for me, is the beginning of everything.

Geometry is moribund. I want a lilt and joy to art.

I'm constantly investigating nature - nature, meaning everything.

I don't like mixed colors that much, like plum color or deep, deep colors that are hard to define.

Each drawing that I've done, I have found. Meaning, I see a plant I want to draw.

My ideas come, wh-pheww. And I draw. Just recently, when I'm searching for ideas for paintings and sculptures, I wait for ideas, and it's always visual.