Paul Gauguin Quotes

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What still concerns me the most is: am I on the right track, am I making progress, am I making mistakes in art?
Paul Gauguin Quotes: What still concerns me the
Out in the sun, some painters are lined up. The first is copying nature, the second is copying the first, the third is copying the second ... You see the sequence.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Out in the sun, some
Nail up some indecency in plain sight over your door; from that time forward you will be rid of all respectable people,the most insupportable folk God has created.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Nail up some indecency in
Whatever may happen the sun will rise tomorrow as it rose to-day, beneficent and serene.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Whatever may happen the sun
Do you know what will soon be the ultimate in truth? - photography, once it begins to reproduce colors, and that won't be long in coming. And yet you want an intelligent man to sweat for months so as to give the illusion he can do something as well as an ingenious little machine can!
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Do you know what will
All the masters have those weak points that are called masterpieces; and besides, they do them as crowd pleasers
to prove that they have the know-how.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: All the masters have those
The flat sound of my wooden clogs on the cobblestones, deep, hollow and powerful, is the note I seek in my painting.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The flat sound of my
A young man who is unable to commit a folly is already an old man.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: A young man who is
The missionary is no longer a man, a conscience. He is a corpse, in the hands of a confraternity, without family, without love, without any of the sentiments that are dear to us. Emasculated, in a sense, by his vow of chastity, he offers us the distressing spectacle of a man deformed and impotent or engaged in a stupid and useless struggle with the sacred needs of the flesh, a struggle which, seven times out of ten, leads him to sodomy, the gallows, or prison.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The missionary is no longer
Thanks to our cinctures and corsets we have succeeded in making an artificial being out of woman. She is an anomaly, and Nature herself, obedient to the laws of heredity, aids us in complicating and enervating her. We carefully keep her in a state of nervous weakness and muscular inferiority, and in guarding her from fatigue, we take away from her possibilities of development. Thus modeled on a bizarre ideal of slenderness to which, strangely enough, we continue to adhere, our women have nothing in common with us, and this, perhaps, may not be without grave moral and social disadvantages.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Thanks to our cinctures and
Slyly, banteringly, but also overbearingly, the critic - the one who does not swallow anything whole, who waits until posterity has consecrated it before ... howling - is among those who howl their admiration the way they howl their insults: don't be afraid, don't tremble - the beast doesn't have any nails or teeth, or even brain: it is stuffed ...
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Slyly, banteringly, but also overbearingly,
How to re-light the fire the very ashes of which are scattered?
Paul Gauguin Quotes: How to re-light the fire
It is so small a thing, the life of a man, and yet there is time to do great things, fragments of a common task.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: It is so small a
Do not copy nature. Art is an abstraction. Rather, bring your art forth by dreaming in front of her and think more of creation.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Do not copy nature. Art
A critic is someone who meddles with something that is none of his business.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: A critic is someone who
If instead of a figure you put the shadow only of a person, you have found an original starting point, that strangeness of which you have calculated.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: If instead of a figure
The great artist is a formulation of the greatest intelligence: he is the recipient of sensations which are the most delicate and consequently the most invisible expressions of the brain.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The great artist is a
The landscape with its violent, pure colours dazzled and blinded me. I was always uncertain ...
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The landscape with its violent,
Beware of luxury! Beware of acquiring the taste and need for it, under the pretext of providing for the morrow ...
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Beware of luxury! Beware of
I am a great artist and I know it. It's because of what I am that I have endured so much suffering, so as to pursue my vocation, otherwise I would consider myself a rogue - which is what many people think I am, for that matter.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: I am a great artist
The single most powerful tool for winning a negotiation is the ability to get up and walk away from the table without a deal
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The single most powerful tool
Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Color! What a deep and
No one is good; no one is evil; everyone is both, in the same way and in different ways. …
It is so small a thing, the life of a man, and yet there is time to do great things, fragments of the common task.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: No one is good; no
But I owe something to Vincent, and that is, in the consciousness of having been useful to him, the confirmation of my own original ideas about painting. And also, at difficult moments, the remembrance that one finds others unhappier than oneself.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: But I owe something to
Look closely at the Japanese; they draw admirably and yet in them you will see life outdoors and in the sun without shadows ...
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Look closely at the Japanese;
There is no such thing as exaggerated art. I even believe that there is salvation only in extreme.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: There is no such thing
The critics can say stupid things and we can enjoy them, if we have the legitimate feeling of superiority - the satisfaction of a duty accomplished.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The critics can say stupid
Proficiency in art is a contract with your self and the empowerment of your self. Not all of us demand or even desire proficiency, but for those who do it's necessary to temper the influence of groups. And while some artists think history is bunk, the historical evidence is overwhelming: "In my isolation I grow stronger."
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Proficiency in art is a
Civilization is what makes you sick.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Civilization is what makes you
I am leaving in order to have peace and quiet. To be rid of the influence of civilization. I only want to do simple, very simple art and to be able to do that, I have to immerse myself in virgin nature, see no one but savages, live their life, with no other thought in my mind but to render, the way a child would, the concepts formed in my brain and to do this with the aid of nothing but the primitive means of art, the only means that are good and true.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: I am leaving in order
Literary poetry in a painter is something special, and is neither illustration nor the translation of writing by form.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Literary poetry in a painter
Nature has mysterious infinities and imaginative power. It is always varying the productions it offers to us. The artist himself is one of nature's means.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Nature has mysterious infinities and
31. "Shut your eyes in order to see." ~
Paul Gauguin Quotes: 31.
Moved by an unconsious sentiment born out of solitude and savagery - idle tales of a noughty child who sometimes reflects and who is always a lover of the beautiful - the beauty that is personal - the only beauty that is human.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Moved by an unconsious sentiment
There are noble tones, ordinary ones, tranquil harmonies, consoling ones, others which excite by their vigour.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: There are noble tones, ordinary
A time will come when people will think I am a myth, or rather something the newspapers have made up.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: A time will come when
In Europe men and women have intercourse because they love each other. In the South Seas they love each other because they have had intercourse. Who is right?
Paul Gauguin Quotes: In Europe men and women
Stay firmly in your path and dare; be wild two hours a day!
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Stay firmly in your path
Life is merely a fraction of a second. An infinitely small amount of time to fulfill our desires, our dreams, our passions.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Life is merely a fraction
Lacking many of the essential implements, it irritated me to be reduced to impotence in the face of artistic projects to which I had passionately given myself.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Lacking many of the essential
A hint - don't paint too much direct from nature. Art is an abstraction! study nature then brood on it and treasure the creation which will result, which is the only way to ascend towards God - to create like our Divine Master.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: A hint - don't paint
Do not copy nature too much. Art is an abstraction.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Do not copy nature too
If you see a tree as blue, then make it blue.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: If you see a tree
Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Life being what it is,
Beautiful colors exist, though we do not realize it, and are glimpsed behind the veil that modesty has drawn over them.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Beautiful colors exist, though we
Follow the masters! But why should one follow them? The only reason they are masters is that they didn't follow anybody!
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Follow the masters! But why
In order to produce something new, you have to return to the original source, to the childhood of mankind.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: In order to produce something
Sometimes people accuse me of being incomprehensible only because they look for an explicative side to my pictures which is not there.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Sometimes people accuse me of
The cyclone ends. The sun returns; the lofty coconut trees lift up their plumes again; man does likewise. The great anguish is over; joy has returned; the sea smiles like a child.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The cyclone ends. The sun
Without delay I began work, without hesitation and all of a fever.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Without delay I began work,
Silence! I am learning to know the silence of a Tahitian night.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Silence! I am learning to
Many people say that I don't know how to draw because I don't draw particular forms. When will they understand that execution, drawing and color (in other words, style) must be in harmony with the poem?
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Many people say that I
The work of a man is the explanation of the man.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The work of a man
I plunged eagerly and passionately into the wilderness, as if in the hope of thus penetrating into the very heart of this Nature, powerful and maternal, there to blend with her living elements.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: I plunged eagerly and passionately
A bit of advice, don't copy nature too closely. Art is an abstraction; as you dream amid nature, extrapolate art from it, and concentrate on what you will create as a result.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: A bit of advice, don't
Civilization is paralysis.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Civilization is paralysis.
When the physical organism breaks up, the soul survives. It then takes on another body.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: When the physical organism breaks
We never really know what stupidity is until we have experimented on ourselves.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: We never really know what
Today one can dare anything, and, furthermore, nobody is surprised.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Today one can dare anything,
Why did I hesitate to put all this glory of the sun on my canvas?
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Why did I hesitate to
The public wants to understand and learn in a single day, a single minute, what the artist has spent years learning.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The public wants to understand
A nude by Degas is chaste. But his women wash in tubs! ...
Paul Gauguin Quotes: A nude by Degas is
Go on working, freely and furiously, and you will make progress.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Go on working, freely and
Don't over finish your work. There is value to done.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Don't over finish your work.
Sooner or later people will learn to recognize your worth
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Sooner or later people will
You may dream freely when you listen to music as well as when you look at painting. When you read a book you are the slave of the author's mind.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: You may dream freely when
Oh yes! He loved yellow, did good Vincent ... When the two of us were together in Arles, both of us insane, and constantly at war over beautiful colors, I adored red; where could I find a perfect vermilion?
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Oh yes! He loved yellow,
Many excellent cooks are spoilt by going into the arts.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Many excellent cooks are spoilt
Perhaps I have no talent, but all vanity aside - I do not believe that anyone makes an artistic attempt, no matter how small, without having a little - or there are many fools.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Perhaps I have no talent,
Solitude is not to be recommended to everyone, for you have to be strong in order to bear it and act alone.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Solitude is not to be
It is better to paint from memory, for thus your work will be your own ...
Paul Gauguin Quotes: It is better to paint
Soon I'll be old and I've done precious little in this world for lack of time. I am always afraid I'll become senile before I've finished what I've undertaken.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Soon I'll be old and
I have come to an unalterable decision - to go and live forever in Polynesia. Then I can end my days in peace and freedom, without thoughts of tomorrow and this eternal struggle against idiots.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: I have come to an
Under the continual contact with the pebbles my feet have become hardened and used to the ground. My body, almost constantly nude, no longer suffers from the sun. Civilization is falling from me little by little. I am beginning to think simply, to feel only very little hatred for my neighbor - rather, to love him.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Under the continual contact with
Oh mysterious world of all light, thou hast made a light shine within me, and I have grown in admiration of thy antique beauty, which is the immemorial youth of nature.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Oh mysterious world of all
Art requires philosophy, just as philosophy requires art. Otherwise, what would become of beauty?
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Art requires philosophy, just as
In the art of literature there are two contending parties. Those who aim to tell stories that are more or less well thought out, and those who aim at beautiful language, beauty of form. This contest may last a very long time; each side has a fifty-fifty chance. Only the poet can rightfully demand that verse be beautiful and nothing but.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: In the art of literature
It was so simple to paint things as I saw them; to put without special calculation a red close to a blue.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: It was so simple to
Art is either a plagiarist or a revolutionist.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Art is either a plagiarist
Wherever I go I need a period of incubation so that I may learn the essence of nature, which never wishes to be understood or yield herself.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Wherever I go I need
Where do we come from?" "What are we?""Where are we going?
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Where do we come from?
Absinthe is the only decent drink that suits an artist.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Absinthe is the only decent
For Christ's sake, were the mountains blue, then chuck on some blue and don't go telling me that it was a blue a bit like this or like that, it was blue wasn't it? Good - make them blue and that's enough!
Paul Gauguin Quotes: For Christ's sake, were the
I must confess that I too am a woman and that I am always prepared to applaud a woman who is more daring than I, and is equal to a man in fighting for freedom of behavior.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: I must confess that I
In painting one must search rather for suggestion than for description, as is done in music.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: In painting one must search
If I did what has already been done, I would be a plagiarist and would consider myself unworthy; so I do something different and people call me a scoundrel. I'd rather be a scoundrel than a plagiarist!
Paul Gauguin Quotes: If I did what has
I was aware that on my skill as a painter would depend the physical and moral possession of the model ...
Paul Gauguin Quotes: I was aware that on
There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: There is always a heavy
However depressed I may be I am not in the habit of giving up a project without having tried everything, even the 'impossible', to gain my end.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: However depressed I may be
Machines have come, art has fled, and I am far from thinking photography can help us.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Machines have come, art has
Do what you like, so long as it is intelligent.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Do what you like, so
The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art's audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: The history of modern art
Happiness and work rose up together with the sun, radiant like it.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Happiness and work rose up
A great sentiment can be rendered immediately. Dream on it and look for the simplest form in which you can express it.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: A great sentiment can be
My God! How terrible these money questions are for an artist!
Paul Gauguin Quotes: My God! How terrible these
One's state of mind is three-quarters of what counts, so it has to be carefully nurtured if you want to do something great and lasting.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: One's state of mind is
Art is either revolution or plagiarism
Paul Gauguin Quotes: Art is either revolution or
In art one is concerned with the condition of the spirit for three quarters of the time; one must therefore care for oneself if he wishes to make something great and lasting.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: In art one is concerned
I made a promise to keep a watch over myself, to remain master of myself, so that I might become a sure observer.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: I made a promise to
It is well for young men to have a model, but let them draw the curtain over it while they are painting.
Paul Gauguin Quotes: It is well for young
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