“Many works of the past complete what they announce they are going to do, to our increasing boredom. Certain others plague me because I cannot follow their intentions. I can tell at a glance what Fabritius is doing, but I am spending my life trying to find out what Rembrandt was up to.” TryingI CanPastArtistCertainIntentionSpendingBoredomGlancesPlague Author:Philip Guston
“Then you learn about composition, you learn about old masters, you form certain ideas about structure. But the inhuman activity of trying to make some kind of jump or leap, where , the painting is always saying, 'What do you want from me? I can only be a painting.' You have to go from part to part, but you shouldn't see yourself go from part to part, that's the whole point.” WantTryingKindI CanIdeasWholeFormCertainEducationPaintingMastersActivityStructureLeapCompositionInhuman Author:Philip Guston
“The things I felt... about certain painters of the past that... inspired me, like Cezanne and Manet... that complete losing of oneself in the work to such an extent that the work itself... felt as if a living organism was posited there on the canvas, on this surface... That's truly... the act of creation.” IfsPastCertainFeltCreationMastersLosingInspiredOneselfSurfacePainterCanvasOrganismsLiving OrganismsCezanne Author:Philip Guston
“What is seen and called the picture is what remains - an evidence. Even as one travels in painting toward a state of 'unfreedom' where only certain things can happen, unaccountably the unknown and free must appear.” StatesHappensCertainPaintingEvidenceRemains Book:Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations Source: Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations
