Quotes by Paul Gauguin

“I shut my eyes in order to see.”

“All the joysanimal and humanof a free life are mine. I have escaped everything that is artificial, conventional, customary. I am entering into the truth, into nature.”

“The self-esteem one acquires and a well-earned feeling of one's strength are the only consolation in this world. Income, after all, most brutes have that.”

“Is there a recipe for making beauty? The schools give recipes, but they do not beget works that make people exclaim: " How beautiful that is!”

“Art requires philosophy, just as philosophy requires art. Otherwise, what would become of beauty?”

“Art is either revolution or plagiarism”

“Color which, like music, is a matter of vibrations, reaches what is most general and therefore most indefinable in nature: its inner power.”

“...solitude is not to be recommended to everyone, for you have to be strong in order to bear it and act alone.”

“Life is hardly more than a fraction of a second. Such a little time to prepare oneself for eternity!”

“It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object beware of this stumbling block.”

“Art is either plagiarism or revolution.”

“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.”

“In art, all who have done something other than their predecessors have merited the epithet of revolutionary; and it is they alone who are masters.”

“Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.”

“All the joys—animal and human—of a free life are mine. I have escaped everything that is artificial, conventional, customary. I am entering into the truth, into nature.”

“My Dear Mr. Pissarro; - I accept with pleasure the invitation that you and Mr. Degas were kind enough to extend to me. And naturally in that case I shall abide by all the rules that govern your Soc...”

“Painting is the most beautiful of all arts. In it, all sensations are condensed, at its aspect everyone may create romance at the will of his imagination, and at a glance have his soul invaded by t...”

“This Cézanne [a 'Still life with Compotier, Fruit and Glass', Cézanne made c. 1879-1882!!], that you ask me for is a pearl of exceptional quality and I already have refused three hundred francs for...”

“How do you see this tree? Is it really green? Use green, then, the most beautiful green on your palette. And that shadow, rather blue? Don't be afraid to paint it as blue as possible.”

“With this painting, I tried to make everything breathe faith, quiet suffering, religious and primitive style and great nature with its scream.”