Paul Gauguin Quotes about Art

Do not copy nature. Art is an abstraction. Rather, bring your art forth by dreaming in front of her and think more of creation.

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.

Art is either revolution or plagiarism

Art = a mad search for individualism.

Seek art and abstraction in nature by dreaming in the presence of it.

There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite.

Do not copy nature too much. Art is an abstraction.

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

Civilization is paralysis.

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.

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

There are two sorts of beauty; one is the result of instinct, the other of study. A combination of the two, with the resulting modifications, brings with it a very complicated richness, which the art critic ought to try to discover.

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 the most profound memories, no efforts of memory, everything summed up in one moment. Complete art which sums up all the others and completes them.

In art, there are only two types of people: revolutionaries and plagiarists. And in the end, doesn't the revolutionary's work become official, once the State takes it over?

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."

What still concerns me the most is: am I on the right track, am I making progress, am I making mistakes in art?

Machines have come, art has fled, and I am far from thinking photography can help us.

Many excellent cooks are spoilt by going into the arts.

There is no such thing as exaggerated art. I even believe that there is salvation only in extreme.

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.

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.

A critic in my house sees some paintings. Greatly perturbed, he asks for my drawings. My drawings? Never! They are my letters, my secrets.

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.

Nothing so resembles a daub as a masterpiece.