“There are so many things in the world - in the cities - so much to see. Does art need to represent this variety and contribute to its proliferation? Can art be that free? The difficulties begin when you understand what it is that the soul will not permit the hand to make.” WorldNeedsDoeArtSoulHandsCitiesArt IsDifficultyVarietyPermitProliferation Book:Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations Source: Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations
“I feel more as if I'm shaping something with my hands. I feel as if I've always wanted to get to that state. Like a blind man in a dark room had some clay, what would he make? I end up with 2 or 3 forms on a canvas, but it gets very physical for me.” IfsMenFeelsEndsStatesHandsWantedFormDarkRoomsBlindCanvasClayBlind ManDark Room Author:Philip Guston
“Painting and sculpture are very archaic forms. It's the only thing left in our industrial society where an individual alone can make something with not just his own hands, but brains, imagination, heart maybe.” HeartHandsFormIndividualLeftImaginationBrainPaintingSculpture Book:Philip Guston, 1975-1980: Private and Public Battles Source: Philip Guston, 1975-1980: Private and Public Battles
“No good to paint in the head - what happens is what happens when you put the paint down - you can only hope that you are alert - ready - to see. What joy it is for paint to become a thing - a being. Believe in this miracle - it is your only hope. To will this transformation is not possible. Only a slow maturation can prepare the hand and eye to become quicker than ever. Ideas about art don't matter. They collapse anyway in front of the painting.” BelieveArtIdeasMatterHandsHappensEyeJoyFrontsPaintingReadyMiracleTransformationPaintCollapse Author:Philip Guston
