‘There is only the present minute - unique- equal to itself - the painting too must be unique’
‘Art is not the reproduction of beautiful things in this world; it is a commentary on these things, made by an artist.’
‘The crescendo in Beethoven unfolds through the entire range of instrumental sonorities—strings, woodwinds, and brass—until it arrives at luminosity. The same is true of Velázquez. In search of that same luminosity, he moves through a range of ochres, reds, blues, and blacks, constantly creating new tones rather than depending, as many painters do, on variations in the intensity of a single tone. I stress this point because it is fundamental.
Neither artist is concerned with description or imitation. Beethoven makes music; Velázquez makes painting. It is in these terms that they should be understood.’
‘ I remember that a few years ago, in Paris, everyone was asking the same question: What will come after Cubism and Surrealism? I presented the idea during my lecture at Cercle et Carré, in front of some of the very artists who had pioneered those movements. Naturally, the idea was rejected—an idea that would have unified them, giving rise to a new movement. Later, my art began to take hold, and people saw it as something new, not as the natural evolution of those earlier tendencies. We are part of an ongoing evolution—and if that is the case, it should encourage us to remain firm in our position. This evolution is moving toward the great line of art that runs through all time.’
‘In focusing inward, I seek to grasp clearly the concept that, for me, is bound to the word Art, I realize that it corresponds to a specific function practiced by an individual named an artist. … But since function, whatever it may be, is ultimately a force activated by doing, the function and the thing are inseparable. … Thus, the artist is Art in potential.’
‘Our lives are in a way the aggregation of units. not only years but hours. i am approximately in my 367204th hour. and the 367205th approaches with a new fragment of life, unlike the previous rest that shall never reoccur. one has to live life in that sense of extension: adding hours.’
Interview with Torres-Garcia, 1943:
Among my students, there are some who will never be true painters… A painter is born that way, and without that temperament, it’s useless to insist. The same goes for the Constructivist. My role is simply to teach, and for that purpose—without asking for payment—the doors of my studio are open to all.
My lectures broadcasted in the radio (and I’ve already given a hundred, which, added to those given in public or at our Association, now total nearly seven hundred) are all aimed at the same thing: teaching—and teaching everyone.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I must stop here—I have too much to do.
—Do you paint?
—Yes, every day. Right now, I’m working in the studio on something that has nothing to do with imitative realism. I’m trying to get closer to expression—what I call Constructive Realism, which has nothing to do with mimetic realism, and is more in tune with modern expression.
Those sixty canvases you see there were painted over the last three months.
—Do you plan to hold an exhibition?
—Why? My friends come here to see the paintings, and that’s enough for me.