Abstract Painting (Diptych)

1. ART IS ART. EVERYTHING ELSE IS EVERYTHING ELSE.
2. ART-AS-ART. ART FROM ART. ART ON ART. ART OF ART. ART FOR ART. ART BEYOND ART. ARTLESS ARTIFICE.
3. PAINTERS' PAINTING. PAINTING'S PAINTERS. PAINTERS' PAINTERS.
4. PAINTING THAT "CANNOT BE TAKEN HOLD OF," THAT "CANNOT BE USED," THAT "CANNOT BE SOLD."
5. PAINTING "ABOUT WHICH NO QUESTIONS CAN BE ASKED."
6. PAINTING AS "NOT AS A LIKENESS OF ANYTHING ON EARTH."
7. ICON AS IMAGE AS IDEA AS SYMBOL AS IDEAL AS FORM AS ICON.
8. ICON AS DEVICE, DIAGRAM, EMBLEM, FRAME, GAME, SIGN, SPECTACLE, ETC. 9. DEVICE AS EMPTY. DIAGRAM AS DEAD. EMBLEM AS ARCHETYPE. FRAME AS (OF) MIND. SIGN AS FORECAST. SPECTACLE AS INVISIBLE.
10. PAINTING AS ABSOLUTE SYMMETRY, PURE REASON, RIGHTNESS.
11. PAINTING AS CENTRAL, FRONTAL, REGULAR, REPETITIVE.
12. PERFORMULATION, PERFORMALIZATION, FORMALISM, REPAINTING.
13. FORMS INTO UNIFORM INTO FORMLESSNESS, STYLE AS RECURRENCE.
14. LIGHT AS REAPPEARANCE, DULLNESS, COLOR AS BLACK, EMPTY.
15. SPACE AS HALVED, TRIPARTED, QUARTERED, QUINQUESECTIONED, ETC., AS ONE.
16. VERTICALITY AND HORIZONTALITY, RECTILINEARITY, PARALLELISM, STASIS. 17. OUTLINES, MONOTONES, BLANKNESS, QUIESCENCE, PREMEDITATION.
18. BRUSHWORK THAT BRUSHES OUT BRUSHWORK.
19. MATTER ONLY TO THE MIND.
20. THE STRICTEST FORMULA FOR THE FREEST ARTISTIC FREEDOM.
21. THE EASIEST ROUTINE TO THE DIFFICULTY.
22. THE MOST COMMON MEAN TO THE MOST UNCOMMON END.
23. THE EXTREMELY IMPERSONAL WAY FOR THE TRULY PERSONAL.
24. THE COMPLETEST CONTROL FOR THE PUREST SPONTANEITY.
25. THE MOST UNIVERSAL PATH TO THE MOST UNIQUE. AND VICE-VERSA.

(Ad Reinhardt, "25 Lines of Words on Art: Statement," It Is, I Spring 1958, p. 42.)

Fig. 1 Reinhardt painting, 1966