The Gauguin Debate in Arles
Gauguin: paint from memory. Vincent: I paint what I see. Two ways of translating the world.
No painting at this knot — only a letter.
Events
- The Translator · Letter 717
Day-and-night debate with Gauguin: 'paint from memory' vs 'paint from nature'
- The Translator · Letter 724
'It is a question of two ways of translating the world.' Defining methodological disagreement as a conflict in translation philosophy
- The Translator · Letter 722
Painted Madame Ginoux together in the studio — a side-by-side experiment of two translation methods on the same subject
- The Ferocious Reader · Letter 725
Gauguin recommended Tolstoy; Vincent recommended Daudet — books became the ammunition of debate
From the Letters
Gauguin peint de mémoire — moi je peins ce que je vois. Gauguin paints from memory — I paint what I see.
Il s'agit de deux manières de traduire le monde. It is a question of two ways of translating the world.
Nous discutons beaucoup — sur Delacroix, sur Rembrandt. Nous ne sommes pas d'accord, mais c'est fécond. We discuss a great deal — about Delacroix, about Rembrandt. We do not agree, but it is fruitful.
Gauguin dit: abstraction. Moi je dis: traduction. C'est toute la différence. Gauguin says: abstraction. I say: translation. That is the whole difference.
La nature est un texte — il faut la lire avant de la traduire. Nature is a text — one must read it before translating it.
Deux peintres dans la même maison — deux langues différentes pour le même paysage. Two painters in the same house — two different languages for the same landscape.
Letter Sources
Van Gogh letter records referenced on this page, linked to the Van Gogh Letters Project. vangoghletters.org