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Philip Guston

Philip Guston Quotes

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Famous Philip Guston Quotes

“Usually I draw in relation to my painting, what I am working on at the time. On a lucky day a surprising balance of forms and spaces will appear... making itself, the image taking hold. This in turn moves me toward painting - anxious to get to the same place, with the actuality of paint and light.”

LightMovingFormTurnsSpacePaintingBalanceLuckyDrawsRelationPaintAnxiousSurprisingActualityMethodologyLucky Day
Book:The drawings of Philip Guston
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“I have a studio in the country - in the woods - but my paintings look more real to me than what is outdoors. You walk outside; the rocks are inert; even the clouds are inert. It makes me feel a little better. But I do have a faith that it is possible to make a living thing, not a diagram of what I have been thinking: to posit with paint something living, something that changes each day.”

ThinkingFeelsLooksLittlesHas BeensRealCountryNatureWalksRocksPaintingPaintCloudsStudiosWoodsEach DayLiving ThingsDiagrams
Book:Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations
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“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
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“Painting is an illusion, a piece of magic, so what you see is not what you see. I don't know what a painting is; who knows what sets off even the desire to paint? It might be things, thoughts, a memory, sensations, which have nothing to do directly with painting itself. They can come from anything and anywhere.”

KnowsMightDesireArtistMemoriesPiecesMagicPaintingIllusionPaintSensations
Book:Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations
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