Paul Gauguin Quotes
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By the combination of lines and colors, under the pretext of some motif taken from nature, I create symphonies and harmonies that represent nothing absolutely real in the ordinary sense of the word but are intended to give rise to thoughts as music does.
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Art requires philosophy, just as philosophy requires art. Otherwise, what would become of beauty?
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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?
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A nude by Degas is chaste. But his women wash in tubs!
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Take care not to step on the foot of a learned idiot. His bite is incurable.
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I was aware that on my skill as a painter would depend the physical and moral possession of the model.
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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.
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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.
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Art is either revolution or plagiarism
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Night is here. All is at rest. My eyes close in order to see without actually understanding the dream that flees before men infinite space; and I experience the languorous sensation produced by the mournful procession of my hopes.
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The public wants to understand and learn in a single day, a single minute, what the artist has spent years learning.
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Whatever may happen the sun will rise tomorrow as it rose to-day, beneficent and serene.
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There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite.
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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.
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Concentrate your strengths against your competitor's relative weaknesses.
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When the physical organism breaks up, the soul survives. It then takes on another body.
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I have always wanted a mistress who was fat, and I have never found one. To make a fool of me, they are always pregnant.
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How do you see those tree?... They are yellow. Well then put down yellow. And that shadow is rather blue. So render it with pure ultramarine. Those red leaves? Use vermillion.
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Why work? The gods are there to lavish upon the faithful the good gifts of nature.
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We never really know what stupidity is until we have experimented on ourselves.
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Many excellent cooks are spoilt by going into the arts.
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Civilization is what makes you sick.
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A time will come when people will think I am a myth, or rather something the newspapers have made up.
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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.