Ramblings of a Wannabe Painter

by Paul Gauguin

“Criticism is our censorship . . .” So begins one of the greatest invectives against criticism ever written by an artist. Paul Gauguin wrote “Racontars de rapin” only months before he died in 1903, but the essay remained unpublished until 1951. Through discussions of numerous artists, both his contemporaries and predecessors, Gauguin unpacks what he viewed as the mistakes and misjudgments behind much of art criticism, revealing not only how wrong critics’ interpretations have been, but also what it would mean to approach art properly—to really look.

Long out of print, this new translation by Donatien Grau includes an introduction that situates the essay within Gauguin’s written oeuvre, as well as explanatory notes. This text sheds light on Gauguin’s conception of art—widely considered a predecessor to Duchamp—and engages with many issues still relevant history, novelty, criticism, and the market. His voice feels as fresh, lively, sharp in English now as it did in French over one hundred years ago. Through Gauguin’s final piece of writing, we see the artist in the full throes of passion—for his work, for his art, for the art of others, and against anyone who would stand in his way.

As the inaugural publication in David Zwirner Books’s new ekphrasis reader series, Ramblings of a Wannabe Painter sets a perfect tone for the books to come. Poised between writing, art, and criticism, Gauguin brings together many different worlds, all of which should have a seat at the table during any meaningful discussion of art. With the express hope of encouraging open exchange between the world of writing and that of the visual arts, David Zwirner Books is proud to present this new edition of a lost masterpiece.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

56 pages, Paperback

Published November 22, 2016

About the author

Gauguin was a financially successful stockbroker and self-taught amateur artist when he began collecting works by the impressionists in the 1870s. Inspired by their example, he took up the study of painting under Camille Pissarro. Pissarro and Edgar Degas arranged for him to show his early painting efforts in the fourth impressionist exhibition in 1879 (as well as the annual impressionist exhibitions held through 1882). In 1882, after a stock market crash and recession rendered him unemployed and broke, Gauguin decided to abandon the business world to pursue life as an artist full-time.

In 1886, Gauguin went to Pont-Aven in Brittany, a rugged land of fervently religious people far from the urban sophistication of Paris. There he forged a new style. He was at the center of a group of avant-garde artists who dedicated themselves to synthétisme, ordering and simplifying sensory data to its fundamentals. Gauguin's greatest innovation was his use of color, which he employed not for its ability to mimic nature but for its emotive qualities. He applied it in broad flat areas outlined with dark paint, which tended to flatten space and abstract form. This flattening of space and symbolic use of color would be important influences on early twentieth-century artists.

In Brittany, Gauguin had hoped to tap the expressive potential he believed rested in a more rural, even "primitive" culture. Over the next several years he traveled often between Paris and Brittany, spending time also in Panama and Martinique. In 1891 his rejection of European urban values led him to Tahiti, where he expected to find an unspoiled culture, exotic and sensual. Instead, he was confronted with a world already transformed by western missionaries and colonial rule. In large measure, Gauguin had to invent the world he sought, not only in paintings but with woodcarvings, graphics, and written works. As he struggled with ways to express the questions of life and death, knowledge and evil that preoccupied him, he interwove the images and mythology of island life with those of the west and other cultures. After a trip to France (1893 to 1895), Gauguin returned to spend his remaining years, marred by illness and depression, in the South Seas.

Reviews

[Darin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, diverting commentary on the states of the arts (painting and criticism--though he probably wouldn't agree that criticism is an art) at the fin de siecle. What Gauguin lacks in clarity, he more than makes up for in tone.

[Hassan Amiruddin Ansari · Rating 4 out of 5]

At its face a commentary on the art world and literati of his time, in some ways a pretty timeless one, but it includes snippets of his values and of the ways he sees art, painting, thought, and critique which I think are very important for anyone intimate with those fields to read. Gauguin proves his authority as a commentator of such not just for his status as a Great Painter but also by being a very nuanced and at times literary voice in this essay. It was also seeing what opinions/positions this Great held before he died

[Reid Page-McTurner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m including this little thing because I’ve read three more similar that I’m not counting

[Julia Brukx · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sassy lil mf’er

[Pharell A. Fernandes]

I’m too dumb for this shiiii

[Pascal Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

he writes like he paints, its very beautiful and lively he obviously cares a lot about what he has to say. its bold and he doesnt care about what people he doesnt care about will have to say. but this is definitely to a fault, he is a narcissist and too sucked into his own world of painting, but i guess that is just him being a product of his time?

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gauguin’s entertaining missive. He attacks everything (criticism is censorship). Talks in allegories and indirection (after the rule of the sword comes the rule of the literati). Applies his personal anarchism to the state and the university (a fight against all the schools).

But this is not some Bannon-esque destruction, just wanting to watch the world burn. Gauguin offers an answer to everything he attacks. His turns to Courbet for his vision of personal freedom: I am fifty years old and I have always lived in freedom; let me end my life free; when I am dead let this be said of me: 'He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any régime except the régime of liberty.'

And he turns to the derided development of impressionism and its evolution to post-impressionism for his vision of art. The conversation gets a little more vague and metaphysical as he reaches to describe this vision, but his point is pretty clear. He is looking for art that can’t be touched by the intellect or by criticism, but directly engages the soul, the heart, the instincts. How this really works in practice is unclear, but that’s the goal. “At the end of the day it’s precisely an endless kind of art that I’m interested in, rich in all sorts of techniques, suitable for translating all the emotions of nature and humanity.”

Maybe not a must read, but entertaining and a good way to reacquaint yourself with the painters of the late 19th and early 20th century.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written a few months before Gauguin’s death in 1903 but not published until 1951 under the title Racontars de Rapin, ramblings is an appropriate title for this short essay. I enjoyed reading his thoughts on art and criticism, and the essay is written in such a way to invite discussion. I’ll likely reread it at some point as it’s one of those books that provides a lot of food for thought in a short amount of space. Recommended.

[Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't know paul g was a writer. Rather enjoy these insider stories particularly when sticking it to critics.

[Juhi Bansal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a must read for artists.

[Molsa Roja(s) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn, certainly rambling quite a bit. What to make out of this short essay? Well, Gauguin is terribly angry at art critics for several reasons: 1) their opinion is invalid as they have no practical experience with painting as an art; 2) their opinion is nothing but a marketing tool, incapable of truly assessing the quality of an oeuvre; 3) their opinion does nothing but perpetuate, as they only refer to the Past, instead of helping to create and focusing on the Future. This is, certainly, a very different view about art criticism than that which Wilde provides in his The critic as an artist; I'd dare to say that Wilde was an idealist and Gauguin a materialist. In my humble opinion, the value of an art criticism is only as valuable as the artists think it is -that is, it is the artists who have to assess whether the one who does criticism has any idea of what he's talking about, and not the critic the one who has to validate the artist. So, his ramblings could be understood more as a demand of a better criticism than as the statement that all criticism is useless, for he himself -even if he's writing as an artist- does criticism in this very same book.

[Lyuba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gauguin's sharp tongue makes this booklet a very amusing read. Largely a critique of art criticism. Gauguin doesn't hide who he dislikes and admires. And it was amazing to read his opinions on France in the 19th century, the interference of the State in Art, the Salon, etc.

"...in any person who creates paintings there are Emotions that can't be made concrete to the public. At most, they are pale reflections of a mystery. In the visual arts, the intelligence of the author, however abstract it may be, is submitted for judgement, but not his Emotions! The inkbottle...the emotions of the painter or sculptor, of the musician, are of an entirely different nature from those of the writer. They depend on sight, the ear, his entire instinctive nature and its struggle against matter."

[Luke Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful, if not disaffecting piece, not by a wannbe painter (Gaugin was famously quite good at painting) but more by a wannbe writer (Gaugin was almost as famously not good at writing). He speaks of the critics and who has the right to say such and such about whatever such and such might be a comment on, obviously in his case focussing on art and literature. It's a really great little book, basically teaching us that people, unless as expert as yourself in whatever you're doing, really have no place to rain on anyone's parade. Confidence, firmness and talent are all one needs to get by.

[clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vastly enjoyable. Gave me an interesting perspective of art in Gauguin's time. Every time I read a book like this it makes me love art even more.

"Who cares? The work of art is made only to be made."

[David Avakyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blood (Gaugin) really just be racontais (rambling). Unique opportunity to get exposure to the energy of an artist. Prodding philosophy sprinkled throughout. & Sweet. Will check out Azzedine Alaïa’s gallery in Paris thanks to the editors description too.

[Trizia · Rating 2 out of 5]

He is an interesting individual for sure! For me it was more the layout of the text. It felt more like reading a whole long critical essay instead of ramblings?

[Evelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This critique of art education and methodologies, and artists reads like the late 19th century counterpart to present day anti-woke tracts.

[Gurotre]

"There is nothing closer to a masterpiece than a bad picture"

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

His ramblings can occasionally be endearing, but the vitriol and self-mythologizing undercut much of this tiny work. It was nice to see he could find something to praise even in painters he didn't particularly love (even if the compliments were rather tepid compared to the criticism), but those he does praise are obvious and he actually says very little about them. Something about the work never feels like it comes to fruition and the final chapter on the official schools and academies is particularly weak. Sure,art critics and criticism suck, but what else have you got?