“Now I as a painter shall never stand for anything of importance. I feel it utterly... I sometimes regret I did not simply keep to the Dutch palette [of Dutch impressionism ] with its grey tones, and have brushed away at landscapes of Montmartre [in 1886-87] with no ado.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

Quote in his letter to brother Theo, from Arles, France, 3 May 1889; as quoted in Vincent van Gogh, edited by Alfred H. Barr; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1935 https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_1996_300061887.pdf, (letter 590), p. 33
1880s, 1889

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Now I as a painter shall never stand for anything of importance. I feel it utterly... I sometimes regret I did not simp…" by Vincent Van Gogh?

Vincent Van Gogh 238

Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890) 1853–1890

Related quotes

“[a landscape painter cannot do with] being stupid-natural…. all that art would be [made] in vain if the feeling stayed away. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)”

Willem Roelofs (1822–1897) Dutch painter and entomologist (1822-1897)

(original Dutch: citaat van Willem Roelofs, in het Nederlands:) Het doel, het streven van de kunst, is als dat van de muziek, te ontroeren; in onze geest gewaarwordingen te doen ontstaan..
[een landschapschilder kan niet volstaan met] stom-natuurlijk te zijn.. ..al die kunst zou ijdel zijn, als het gevoel weg bleef.
2 short quotes of W. Roelofs in a letter to his pupil , 8 June 1886; as cited in Willem Roelofs 1822-1897. De adem der natuur, ed. M. van Heteren and R. te Rijdt; exposition catalog of Museum Jan Cunen, Oss / Kunsthal Rotterdam, 2006, p. 50
1880's

“Peintre Paysagiste des Polders Hollandais', ('Landscape Painter of the Dutch Polders')”

Paul Gabriël (1828–1903) painter (1828-1903)

in, 'Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël 1828-1903. Colorist van de Haagse School', ed. M. Peters & B. Tempel; exposition catalog - Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum / Kleef, Stichting B.C. Koekkoek-Huis, Zwolle 1998, p. 46
Paul Gabriël described himself frequently in this way, in French!
undated quotes

“Of all the colors I ordered: the three chromes, the Prussian blue, the emerald, the crimson lakes, the malachite green, all the orange lead, hardly one of them is to be found on the Dutch palette, in Maris, in Mauve or Israels - [all contemporaries of Vincent, Dutch painters of the Hague School. ]”

Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)

Quote in his letter to brother Theo, from Arles, France, Spring 1888; as quoted in Vincent van Gogh, edited by Alfred H. Barr; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1935 https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_1996_300061887.pdf, (letter 476), p 31
1880s, 1888

“I am searching for a tone, which we call 'colored grey'. I mean that all colors, even the strongest, can be brought together in such a way as to give the impression of a warm, vital grey. (translation from the Dutch original: Fons Heijnsbroek)”

Gerard Bilders (1838–1865) painter from the Netherlands

version in original Dutch / citaat van Bilders' brief, in het Nederlands: Ik zoek naar een toon, die wij gekleurd-grijs noemen; dat is alle kleuren, hoé sterk ook, zoodanig tot één geheel gebragt, dat ze de indruk geven van een geurig, warm grijs.
Quote from Gerard Bilders' letter (July 1860) to his maecenas , as cited by Victorine Hefting, in Jongkinds's Universe; Henri Scrépel, Paris, 1976, p. 18-19
1860's

“There is still some study [to do] here for the Dutch landscape, and I believe the best I can do is to stay some time longer. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)”

Willem Roelofs (1822–1897) Dutch painter and entomologist (1822-1897)

(original Dutch: citaat van Willem Roelofs, in het Nederlands:) Er is hier voor het Hollandsch landschap nog al wat studie en ik geloof beste te doen nog maar wat te blijven.
Quote of Roelofs in his letter from Schiedam, Summer 1865; as cited in Zó Hollands - Het Hollandse landschap in de Nederlandse kunst sinds 1850, Antoon Erftemeijer https://www.franshalsmuseum.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/zohollands_eindversie_def_1.pdf; Frans Hals museum | De Hallen, Haarlem 2011, p. 16
in the Summer of 1865 Roelofs was visiting Schiedam and its surrounding polders. In 1866 he came back here, for making his sketches in open air
1860's

“Just follow the lead of the Dutch seventeenth-century master-painters, we have to look at the country around us in the way the old masters did. (translation from original Dutch, Fons Heijnsbroek, 2018)”

Anton Mauve (1838–1888) Dutch painter (1838–1888)

(version in original Dutch / origineel citaat van Anton Mauve, in het Nederlands:) Neem toch een voorbeeld aan de Hollandse zeventiende-eeuwse meesters, we moeten kijken naar het land om ons heen zoals de oude meesters dat deden.
as cited in Anton Mauve en de Haagse School, S.F.M. de Bodt, in 'Openbaar Kunstbezit', Den Haag, 1997b, p. 30
undated quotes

“Lately I have been asking for landscape [paintings] with animals, so I have devoted a lot of time this year sketching cows. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)”

Willem Roelofs (1822–1897) Dutch painter and entomologist (1822-1897)

(original Dutch: citaat van Willem Roelofs, in het Nederlands:) In den laatsten tijd vraagt men mij steeds landschap met beesten zoodat ik mij van dit jaar veel op studie van koeijen heb toegelegd.
In a letter of Roelofs to P. verLoren van Themaat, 3 Sept, 1882; Haagsch Gemeente-archief / Municipal Archive of The Hague
1880's

“To swim in the open sky. To achieve the tenderness of clouds. To suspend these masses in the distance, very far away in the grey mist, make the blue explode. I feel all this coming, dawning in my intentions. What joy and what torment! If the bottom were still, perhaps I would never reach these depths. Did they do better in the past? Did the Dutch achieve the poetry of clouds I seek? That tenderness of the sky which even extends to admiration, to worship: it is no exaggeration.”

Eugène Boudin (1824–1898) French painter

Diary-note of Boudin, 3 December, 1856; as cited in the description of his painting 'Sky, Setting Sun, Bushes in Foreground' http://www.muma-lehavre.fr/en/collections/artworks-in-context/eugene-boudin/boudin-skies, by the Muma-museum, Le Havre
A quote from Boudin's personal diary sheds remarkable light on a small group of his sky studies
1850s - 1870s

“In our beginnings, Fantin, Whistler and I were all on the same road, the road from Holland [Dutch 17th century painters]”

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) French artist

Quote of Degas, later recalled by Paul Poujaud (written in his letter to Marcel Guérin, 11 July 1936); as quoted by Colin B. Bailey, in The Annenberg Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-impressionism, publish. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2009, p. 54
Degas is recalling his early works of the 1860's
quotes, undated

“The further I get, the more I stand at the beginning. I'am Benner, but I do not say, I got it. (translation from Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek, 2018)”

Gerrit Benner (1897–1981) Dutch painter

version in original Dutch (citaat van Gerrit Benner, in het Nederlands:) Hoe verder ik kom, hoe meer ik aan het begin sta. Ik bin Benner, mar ik zeg niet ik ben-er.
Quote of Benner (1961), in interview 'Benner: ik leef hier bijna net zo geïsoleerd als in Leeuwarden', Dutch newspaper 'Leeuwarder Courant', 20 Dec. 1961
1950 - 1980

“Now I as a painter shall never stand for anything of importance. I feel it utterly... I sometimes regret I did not simply keep to the Dutch palette [of Dutch impressionism ] with its grey tones, and have brushed away at landscapes of Montmartre [in 1886-87] with no ado.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Vincent Van Gogh 238

Related quotes

Related topics