Paul Gauguin went to Tahiti and created a new style of "primative" paintings with unbound restrictions of what was possible.  His work has been very inspirational to me.   During my early years in Paris, Picasso, Matisse, Lautrec, and Gauguin were not only my favorite artists; they were also the most influential in my creating my own style with them as my heros. My next painting, for example, came out in a very "primative" Gauguin style, but it wasn't just Gauguin.  As I looked at the painting, it took me a while to figure out who the influence was.  At first, as I studied the painting, I thought the influence was Picasso and Gauguin but, as it turned out, there was another artist who was the true inspiration coming of my subconscious.