Difference between revisions of "Paul Gauguin" - New World Encyclopedia

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[[Image:Paul Gauguin 111.jpg|thumb|Gaugin self portrait]]
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'''Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin''' (June 7, 1848 – May 9, 1903), also spelled '''Gaugin''' was a leading [[Post-Impressionism|Post-Impressionist]] [[artist]]. Best known as a [[painter]], his bold experimentation with coloring led directly to the [[Synthetism|Synthetist]] style of [[Modern Art]], while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings paved the way to [[Primitivism]] and the return to the [[pastoral]]. He was also an influential exponent of wood [[engraving]] and [[woodcut]]s as art forms.
  
[[Image:PaulGauguinblackwhite.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin]]
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Separating from his wife and five children and suffering from bouts of [[depression]], Gaugin became increasingly focused on his art, associating with such Parisian artists as [[Camille Pissarro]] and [[Paul Cézanne]]. The mystic [[symbolism]] and vigor he found in Asian and African art, along with his interest in [[cloisonne]]-enameling, influenced his style. Destitute and seeking recognition, Gauguin left his native [[France]], eventually settling in [[Polynesia]]. Full of quasi-religious symbolism and an exoticized view of the islanders, his intensely colorful paintings today command tens of millions of dollars among art collectors.      
'''Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin''' (June 7, 1848 – May 9, 1903) was a leading [[Post-Impressionism|Post-Impressionist]] [[artist]]. Best known as a [[painter]], his bold experimentation with coloring led directly to the [[Synthetism|Synthetist]] style of [[Modern Art]], while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings paved the way to [[Primitivism]] and the return to the [[pastoral]]. He was also an influential exponent of wood [[engraving]] and [[woodcut]]s as art forms.
 
 
 
Separating from his wife and five children and suffering from bouts of [[depression]], Gaugin became increasingly focused on his art, associating with such Parisian artists as [[Camille Pissarro]] and [[Paul Cézanne]]. The mystic [[symbolism]] and vigor he found in Asian and African art, along with his interest in [[cloisonne]]-enamelling, influenced his style. Destitute and seeking recognition, Gaugin left his native [[France]], eventually settling in [[Polynesia]]. Full of quasi-religious symbolism and an exoticized view of the islanders, his intensely colorful paintings today command tens of millions of dollars among art collectors.
 
Gaugin's lush colors, flat two-dimensional forms, and subject matter helped form the basis of Modern Art.
 
  
 
==Life and Work==
 
==Life and Work==
 +
[[Image:PaulGauguinblackwhite.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin]]
 
Paul Gauguin was born in [[Paris]], [[France]] to journalist Clovis Gauguin and  Aline Maria Chazal, the half-[[Peruvian]] daughter of a [[socialist]] activist. In 1851, the family left Paris for [[Peru]], motivated by the political climate of the period. Clovis died on the voyage, leaving three-year old Paul, his mother, and his sister to fend for themselves. They lived for four years in [[Lima, Peru]] with Paul's uncle and his family. The imagery of Peru would later influence Gaugin in his art.
 
Paul Gauguin was born in [[Paris]], [[France]] to journalist Clovis Gauguin and  Aline Maria Chazal, the half-[[Peruvian]] daughter of a [[socialist]] activist. In 1851, the family left Paris for [[Peru]], motivated by the political climate of the period. Clovis died on the voyage, leaving three-year old Paul, his mother, and his sister to fend for themselves. They lived for four years in [[Lima, Peru]] with Paul's uncle and his family. The imagery of Peru would later influence Gaugin in his art.
  
 
At the age of seven, Paul and his family returned to France to live to live with his grandfather in [[Orleans]]. He soon learned [[French language|French]] and excelled in his studies. At 17, Gauguin signed on as a pilot's assistant in the [[merchant marine]] to fulfill his required military service. Three years later, he joined the [[navy]] where he stayed for two years. In 1871, Gauguin returned to Paris where he secured a job as a [[stockbroker]]. In 1873, he married a [[Danish]] woman, Mette Sophie Gad. Over the next 10 years, they would have five children.
 
At the age of seven, Paul and his family returned to France to live to live with his grandfather in [[Orleans]]. He soon learned [[French language|French]] and excelled in his studies. At 17, Gauguin signed on as a pilot's assistant in the [[merchant marine]] to fulfill his required military service. Three years later, he joined the [[navy]] where he stayed for two years. In 1871, Gauguin returned to Paris where he secured a job as a [[stockbroker]]. In 1873, he married a [[Danish]] woman, Mette Sophie Gad. Over the next 10 years, they would have five children.
  
Gauguin had been interested in art since his childhood. In his free time, he began painting and would also frequent galleries and purchase many of the new art coming out in Paris, including some 17,000 francs on works by [[Eduoard Manet]], [[Claude Monet]], [[Alfred Sisley]], [[Camille Pissarro]], [[Auguste Renoir]], and [[Armand Guillaumin]]. He formed a friendship with Pissarro, who introduced him to various artists through his connections.   
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Gauguin had been interested in art since his childhood. In his free time, he began painting and would also frequent galleries and purchase many of the new art coming out in Paris. He formed a friendship with [[Camille Pissarro]], who introduced him to various artists through his connections. As he progressed in his art, Gauguin rented a studio, and showed paintings in [[Impressionist]] exhibitions held in 1881 and 1882. Over two summer vacations, he painted with Pissarro and occasionally with [[Paul Cézanne]].    
 
 
In 1874, he saw the first [[Impressionist]] exhibition, which completely entranced him and confirmed his desire to become a painter. As he progressed in his art, Gauguin rented a studio, and showed paintings in [[Impressionist]] exhibitions held in 1881 and 1882. Over two summer vacations, he painted with Pissarro and occasionally with [[Paul Cézanne]].  
 
 
 
Pissarro took a special interest in Gaugin's attempts at painting, emphasizing that he should "look for the nature that suits your temperament," and in 1876, Gauguin had a landscape in the style of Pissarro accepted at the [[Salon de Paris]]. In the meantime, Pissarro had introduced him to Cézanne, for whose works he conceived a great respect—so much so that the older man began to fear that he would steal his "sensations." All three worked together for some time at [[Pontoise]], the studio-residence of the L'Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy, where Pissarro and Gauguin drew pencil sketches of each other.
 
  
 
[[Image:Where.jpg|thumb|left|350px|''[[Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?]]''<br/>1897, oil on canvas<br/>[[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Boston Museum of Fine Arts]], Boston, MA, USA]]
 
[[Image:Where.jpg|thumb|left|350px|''[[Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?]]''<br/>1897, oil on canvas<br/>[[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Boston Museum of Fine Arts]], Boston, MA, USA]]
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By 1884, Gauguin had moved with his family to [[Copenhagen]], where he unsuccessfully pursued a business career. Driven to paint full-time, he returned to Paris in 1885, leaving his family in [[Denmark]]. Without adequate subsistence, his wife and their five children returned to her family.
 
By 1884, Gauguin had moved with his family to [[Copenhagen]], where he unsuccessfully pursued a business career. Driven to paint full-time, he returned to Paris in 1885, leaving his family in [[Denmark]]. Without adequate subsistence, his wife and their five children returned to her family.
  
Gauguin experienced bouts of [[depression (mood)|depression]] and at one time attempted [[suicide]]. Disappointed with [[Impressionism]], he felt that traditional European painting had become too imitative and lacked symbolic depth. By contrast, the art of [[Africa]] and [[Asia]] seemed to him full of mystic symbolism and vigor. There was a vogue in Europe at the time for the art of other cultures, especially that of [[Japan]]. Gauguin was invited to participate in the [[Paul Gauguin's exhibit at Les XX, 1889|1889 exhibition]] organized by [[Les XX]], a group of 20 Belgian [[painter]]s, [[designer]]s, and [[sculptor]]s, formed in 1883 by the [[Brussels]] [[lawyer]], [[publisher]], and entrepreneur [[Octave Maus]].
+
Like his friend [[Vincent Van Gogh]], with whom he spent nine weeks painting in [[Arles]], Gauguin experienced bouts of [[depression (mood)|depression]] and at one time attempted [[suicide]]. Disappointed with [[Impressionism]], he felt that traditional European painting had become too imitative and lacked symbolic depth. By contrast, the art of [[Africa]] and [[Asia]] seemed to him full of mystic symbolism and vigor. There was a vogue in Europe at the time for the art of other cultures, especially that of [[Japan]]. Gauguin was invited to participate in the [[Paul Gauguin's exhibit at Les XX, 1889|1889 exhibition]] organized by [[Les XX]].
  
 
[[Image:Yellow Christ.jpg|thumb|right|175px|''The Yellow Christ (Le Christ jaune)''<br/>1889, oil on canvas. [[Albright-Knox Art Gallery]], Buffalo, NY, USA]]
 
[[Image:Yellow Christ.jpg|thumb|right|175px|''The Yellow Christ (Le Christ jaune)''<br/>1889, oil on canvas. [[Albright-Knox Art Gallery]], Buffalo, NY, USA]]
  
Gauguin evolved towards [[Cloisonnism]], a style given its name by the critic [[Édouard Dujardin]] in response to [[Emile Bernard]]'s [[cloisonne]]-enameling technique. Gauguin was very appreciative of Bernard's art and of his daring with the employment of a style which suited Gauguin in his quest to express the essence of the objects in his art. In ''[[:Image:Yellow Christ.jpg|The Yellow Christ]]'' (1889), often cited as a quintessential ''cloisonnist'' work, the image was reduced to areas of large flat areas of nonnaturalistic color separated by heavy black outlines. In such works, Gauguin paid little attention to classical perspective and boldly eliminated subtle gradations of color—thus dispensing with the two most characteristic principles of post-[[Renaissance]] painting. His painting later evolved towards "synthetism," a less naturalistic style, in which neither form nor color predominate but each has an equal role.
+
Under the influence of [[folk art]] and [[Ukiyo-e|Japanese prints]], Gauguin evolved towards   [[Cloisonnism]], a style given its name by the critic [[Édouard Dujardin]] in response to [[Emile Bernard]]'s [[cloisonne]]-enameling technique. Gauguin was very appreciative of Bernard's art and of his daring with the employment of a style which suited Gauguin in his quest to express the essence of the objects in his art. In ''[[:Image:Yellow Christ.jpg|The Yellow Christ]]'' (1889), often cited as a quintessential ''cloisonnist'' work, the image was reduced to areas of pure color separated by heavy black outlines. In such works, Gauguin paid little attention to classical perspective and boldly eliminated subtle gradations of color—thus dispensing with the two most characteristic principles of post-[[Renaissance]] painting. His painting later evolved towards "synthetism" in which neither form nor color predominate but each has an equal role.
 
 
He found his inspiration in the art of indigenous peoples, in medieval stained glass, and in Japanese prints; he was introduced to Japanese prints by the Dutch artist [[Vincent van Gogh]] when they spent two months together in Arles, in the south of France, in 1888. Gaugin made several attempts to find a tropical paradise where he could "live on fish and fruit" and paint in his increasingly primitive style. including short stays in Martinique and as a worker on the [[Panama Canal]]).
 
  
 +
Gaugin made several attempts to find a tropical paradise where he could "live on fish and fruit" and paint in his increasingly primitive style. including short stays in Martinique and as a worker on the [[Panama Canal]])
 
In 1891, frustrated by lack of recognition at home and financially destitute, Gauguin sailed to the tropics to escape European civilization and "everything that is artificial and conventional." Living in Mataiea Village in [[Tahiti]], he painted "''Fatata te Miti''" ("By the Sea"), "''La Orana Maria''" (Ave Maria), and other depictions of Tahitian life. He moved to [[Punaauia]] in 1897, where he created the masterpiece painting "''Where Do We Come From''", and then lived the rest of his life in the [[Marquesas]] Islands, returning to France only once.
 
In 1891, frustrated by lack of recognition at home and financially destitute, Gauguin sailed to the tropics to escape European civilization and "everything that is artificial and conventional." Living in Mataiea Village in [[Tahiti]], he painted "''Fatata te Miti''" ("By the Sea"), "''La Orana Maria''" (Ave Maria), and other depictions of Tahitian life. He moved to [[Punaauia]] in 1897, where he created the masterpiece painting "''Where Do We Come From''", and then lived the rest of his life in the [[Marquesas]] Islands, returning to France only once.
  
Except for one visit to France from 1893 to 1895, he remained in the Tropics for the rest of his life, first in Tahiti and later in the Marquesas Islands. The essential characteristics of his style changed little in the South Seas; he retained the qualities of expressive color, denial of perspective, and thick, flat forms. Under the influence of the tropical setting and Polynesian culture, however, Gaugin’s paintings became more powerful, while the subject matter became more distinctive, the scale larger, and the compositions more simplified. His subjects ranged from scenes of ordinary life, such as ''Tahitian Women'', or ''On the Beach'', to brooding scenes of superstitious dread, such as ''Spirit of the Deadwatching''. His masterpiece was the monumental allegory ''Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?'', which he painted shortly before his failed suicide attempt.
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His works of that period are full of quasi-religious symbolism and an exoticized view of the inhabitants of Polynesia, where he clashed often with the colonial authorities and the Catholic Church. During this period, he also wrote the book ''Avant et Après'' ("Before and After"), a fragmented collection of observations about life in Polynesia, memories from his life, and comments on literature and paintings. In 1903, due to a problem with the church and the government, he was sentenced to three months in prison and fined. At the time, he was being supported by an art dealer.
 
 
His works of that period are full of quasi-religious symbolism and an exoticized view of the inhabitants of Polynesia, where he clashed often with the colonial authorities and the Catholic Church. During this period, he also wrote the book ''Avant et Après'' ("Before and After"), a fragmented collection of observations about life in Polynesia, memories from his life, and comments on literature and paintings. In 1903, due to a problem with the church and the government, he was sentenced to three months in prison for slander and fined. At the time, he was being supported by a modest stipend from a Parisian art dealer, which sustained him until his death.  
 
  
His body had been weakened by [[alcoholism]] and a dissipated life style, Gaugin died from [[syphilis]] on May 9, 1903, before he could start the prison sentence at Atuana in Marquesas.
+
In 1903 at age 54, Gaugin died of [[syphilis]] before he could start the prison sentence. His body had been weakened by [[alcoholism]] and a dissipated life style. He is buried in [[Calvary Cemetery, Atuona|Calvary Cemetery]] (Cimetière Calvaire), [[Atuona]], [[Hiva Oa|Hiva ‘Oa]], [[Marquesas Islands]], [[French Polynesia]].
He is buried in [[Calvary Cemetery, Atuona|Calvary Cemetery]] (Cimetière Calvaire), [[Atuona]], [[Hiva Oa|Hiva ‘Oa]], [[Marquesas Islands]], [[French Polynesia]].
 
  
 
== Quotations ==
 
== Quotations ==
 
=== Quotations by Gauguin ===
 
=== Quotations by Gauguin ===
 +
*In order to do something new we must go back to the source, to humanity in its infancy.
 +
 
*I have tried to make everything breathe in this painting: belief, passive suffering, religious and primitive style, and the great nature with its scream.
 
*I have tried to make everything breathe in this painting: belief, passive suffering, religious and primitive style, and the great nature with its scream.
  
Line 47: Line 40:
 
*To me, barbarism is a rejuvenation.
 
*To me, barbarism is a rejuvenation.
  
*Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
+
*Art is either plagiarism or revolution.
  
===Quotations about Gauguin===
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*I shut my eyes in order to see.
*He put so much mystery in so much brightness. (Mallarme)
 
  
*Gauguin's paintings always seemed to me cruel, metallic, and lacking in general emotion. He is always absent from his own work. Everything is there except the painter himself. (Vlaminck)
+
*Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
  
*Portentous allegories about the destiny of mankind. (John Russell)
+
*Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
  
*The popular fancy that Gauguin 'discovered himself' as a painter in Tahiti is quite wrong. All the components of his work--the flat patterns of color, the wreathing outlines, the desire to make symbolic statements about fate and emotion, the interest in 'primitive' art, and the thought that color could function as a language—were assembled in France before 1891. (Robert Hughes)
+
*How long have I been here? Hence, foreword, for I shall not know. For I have been traveling for too long. My bones too weary to remember my age. Hence, how long have I been here? Thou shalt never know.
 +
==Gallery==
 +
<gallery>
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 097.jpg|''Portrait of Madame Gauguin,'' c. (1880-1881)
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Image:Paul Gauguin 060.jpg|''Garden in Vaugirard, or the Painter's Family in the Garden in Rue Carcel,'' (1881)
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Image:Gauguin Stillleben mit Fruchtschale und Zitronen.jpg|''Still-Life with Fruit and Lemons,'' c. (1880's)
 +
Image:Gauguin.swineherd.750pix.jpg|''The Swineherd, Brittany,'' (1888)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 085.jpg|''Les Alyscamps,'' (1888)
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Image:Paul Gauguin 137.jpg|''Vision after the lecture (Jacobs fight with the angel),'' (1888)
 +
Image:GauguinNightCafeAtArles.JPG|''Night Café at Arles, (Mme Ginoux),'' (1888)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 121.jpg|''Still-Life with Japanese Woodcut,'' (1889)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 056.jpg|Tahitian Women on the Beach,'' (1891''
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 040.jpg|''Woman with a Flower,'' (1891)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 031.jpg|''The Moon and the Earth (Hina tefatou),'' (1893)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 004.jpg|''Annah, the Javanerin,'' (1893)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 039.jpg|''Watermill in Pont-Aven,'' (1894)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 044.jpg|''The Midday Nap,'' (1894)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 090.jpg|''Maternity,'' (1899)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin - Deux Tahitiennes.jpg|''Two Tahitian Women,'' (1899), oil on canvas,
 +
[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 023.jpg|''Cruel Tales (Exotic Saying),'' (1902)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 038.jpg|''The Zauberer of Hiva OAU,'' (1902)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 106.jpg|''Riders on the Beach,'' (1902)
 +
Image:Paul Gauguin 079.jpg|''Landscape on La Dominique (Hiva OAU),'' (1903)
 +
</gallery>
  
[[Image:ta_matete.jpg|thumb|right|175px|''We Shall Not Go to the Market Today (Ta Matete)''<br/>1892, oil on canvas]]
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==Legacy==
  
==Legacy==
+
The vogue for Gauguin's work started soon after his death. Many of his later paintings were acquired by the Russian collector Sergei Shchukin. A substantial part of his collection is displayed in the [[Pushkin Museum]] and the [[Hermitage Museum|Hermitage]]. Gauguin paintings are rarely offered for sale; their price may be as high as $39.2 million.  
Gaugin’s bold experiments in coloring led directly to the twentieth-century Fauvist style in modern art. His strong modeling influenced the Norwegian artist ''Edvard Munch'' and the later Expressionist school.
 
  
 
Gauguin influenced many other painters, but one especially notable connection is his imparting to [[Arthur Frank Mathews]] the use of an intense color palette. Mathews, who Gauguin in the late 1890s while both were at the [[Academie Julian]], took this influence in his founding of the California [[Arts and Crafts]] (or California Decorative) movement.
 
Gauguin influenced many other painters, but one especially notable connection is his imparting to [[Arthur Frank Mathews]] the use of an intense color palette. Mathews, who Gauguin in the late 1890s while both were at the [[Academie Julian]], took this influence in his founding of the California [[Arts and Crafts]] (or California Decorative) movement.
 
The vogue for Gauguin's work started soon after his death. Many of his later paintings were acquired by the Russian collector Sergei Shchukin. A substantial part of his collection is displayed in the [[Pushkin Museum]] and the [[Hermitage Museum|Hermitage]]. Gauguin paintings are rarely offered for sale; their price may be as high as $39.2 million.
 
  
 
The Japanese-styled Gauguin Museum, opposite the Botanical Gardens of Papeari in Papeari, Tahiti, contains exhibits, documents, photographs, reproductions, and original sketches and block prints of and by Gauguin. In 2003, the [[Paul Gauguin Cultural Center]] opened in [[Atuona]] in the [[Marquesas Islands]].
 
The Japanese-styled Gauguin Museum, opposite the Botanical Gardens of Papeari in Papeari, Tahiti, contains exhibits, documents, photographs, reproductions, and original sketches and block prints of and by Gauguin. In 2003, the [[Paul Gauguin Cultural Center]] opened in [[Atuona]] in the [[Marquesas Islands]].

Revision as of 13:58, 22 October 2007

Gaugin self portrait

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848 – May 9, 1903), also spelled Gaugin was a leading Post-Impressionist artist. Best known as a painter, his bold experimentation with coloring led directly to the Synthetist style of Modern Art, while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings paved the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral. He was also an influential exponent of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms.

Separating from his wife and five children and suffering from bouts of depression, Gaugin became increasingly focused on his art, associating with such Parisian artists as Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne. The mystic symbolism and vigor he found in Asian and African art, along with his interest in cloisonne-enameling, influenced his style. Destitute and seeking recognition, Gauguin left his native France, eventually settling in Polynesia. Full of quasi-religious symbolism and an exoticized view of the islanders, his intensely colorful paintings today command tens of millions of dollars among art collectors.

Life and Work

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin was born in Paris, France to journalist Clovis Gauguin and Aline Maria Chazal, the half-Peruvian daughter of a socialist activist. In 1851, the family left Paris for Peru, motivated by the political climate of the period. Clovis died on the voyage, leaving three-year old Paul, his mother, and his sister to fend for themselves. They lived for four years in Lima, Peru with Paul's uncle and his family. The imagery of Peru would later influence Gaugin in his art.

At the age of seven, Paul and his family returned to France to live to live with his grandfather in Orleans. He soon learned French and excelled in his studies. At 17, Gauguin signed on as a pilot's assistant in the merchant marine to fulfill his required military service. Three years later, he joined the navy where he stayed for two years. In 1871, Gauguin returned to Paris where he secured a job as a stockbroker. In 1873, he married a Danish woman, Mette Sophie Gad. Over the next 10 years, they would have five children.

Gauguin had been interested in art since his childhood. In his free time, he began painting and would also frequent galleries and purchase many of the new art coming out in Paris. He formed a friendship with Camille Pissarro, who introduced him to various artists through his connections. As he progressed in his art, Gauguin rented a studio, and showed paintings in Impressionist exhibitions held in 1881 and 1882. Over two summer vacations, he painted with Pissarro and occasionally with Paul Cézanne.

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
1897, oil on canvas
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

By 1884, Gauguin had moved with his family to Copenhagen, where he unsuccessfully pursued a business career. Driven to paint full-time, he returned to Paris in 1885, leaving his family in Denmark. Without adequate subsistence, his wife and their five children returned to her family.

Like his friend Vincent Van Gogh, with whom he spent nine weeks painting in Arles, Gauguin experienced bouts of depression and at one time attempted suicide. Disappointed with Impressionism, he felt that traditional European painting had become too imitative and lacked symbolic depth. By contrast, the art of Africa and Asia seemed to him full of mystic symbolism and vigor. There was a vogue in Europe at the time for the art of other cultures, especially that of Japan. Gauguin was invited to participate in the 1889 exhibition organized by Les XX.

The Yellow Christ (Le Christ jaune)
1889, oil on canvas. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA

Under the influence of folk art and Japanese prints, Gauguin evolved towards Cloisonnism, a style given its name by the critic Édouard Dujardin in response to Emile Bernard's cloisonne-enameling technique. Gauguin was very appreciative of Bernard's art and of his daring with the employment of a style which suited Gauguin in his quest to express the essence of the objects in his art. In The Yellow Christ (1889), often cited as a quintessential cloisonnist work, the image was reduced to areas of pure color separated by heavy black outlines. In such works, Gauguin paid little attention to classical perspective and boldly eliminated subtle gradations of color—thus dispensing with the two most characteristic principles of post-Renaissance painting. His painting later evolved towards "synthetism" in which neither form nor color predominate but each has an equal role.

Gaugin made several attempts to find a tropical paradise where he could "live on fish and fruit" and paint in his increasingly primitive style. including short stays in Martinique and as a worker on the Panama Canal) In 1891, frustrated by lack of recognition at home and financially destitute, Gauguin sailed to the tropics to escape European civilization and "everything that is artificial and conventional." Living in Mataiea Village in Tahiti, he painted "Fatata te Miti" ("By the Sea"), "La Orana Maria" (Ave Maria), and other depictions of Tahitian life. He moved to Punaauia in 1897, where he created the masterpiece painting "Where Do We Come From", and then lived the rest of his life in the Marquesas Islands, returning to France only once.

His works of that period are full of quasi-religious symbolism and an exoticized view of the inhabitants of Polynesia, where he clashed often with the colonial authorities and the Catholic Church. During this period, he also wrote the book Avant et Après ("Before and After"), a fragmented collection of observations about life in Polynesia, memories from his life, and comments on literature and paintings. In 1903, due to a problem with the church and the government, he was sentenced to three months in prison and fined. At the time, he was being supported by an art dealer.

In 1903 at age 54, Gaugin died of syphilis before he could start the prison sentence. His body had been weakened by alcoholism and a dissipated life style. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery (Cimetière Calvaire), Atuona, Hiva ‘Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.

Quotations

Quotations by Gauguin

  • In order to do something new we must go back to the source, to humanity in its infancy.
  • I have tried to make everything breathe in this painting: belief, passive suffering, religious and primitive style, and the great nature with its scream.
  • How do you see this tree? Is it really green? Use green, then, the most beautiful green on your palette. And that shadow, rather blue? Don't be afraid to paint it as blue as possible.
  • To me, barbarism is a rejuvenation.
  • Art is either plagiarism or revolution.
  • I shut my eyes in order to see.
  • Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
  • Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
  • How long have I been here? Hence, foreword, for I shall not know. For I have been traveling for too long. My bones too weary to remember my age. Hence, how long have I been here? Thou shalt never know.

Gallery

Legacy

The vogue for Gauguin's work started soon after his death. Many of his later paintings were acquired by the Russian collector Sergei Shchukin. A substantial part of his collection is displayed in the Pushkin Museum and the Hermitage. Gauguin paintings are rarely offered for sale; their price may be as high as $39.2 million.

Gauguin influenced many other painters, but one especially notable connection is his imparting to Arthur Frank Mathews the use of an intense color palette. Mathews, who Gauguin in the late 1890s while both were at the Academie Julian, took this influence in his founding of the California Arts and Crafts (or California Decorative) movement.

The Japanese-styled Gauguin Museum, opposite the Botanical Gardens of Papeari in Papeari, Tahiti, contains exhibits, documents, photographs, reproductions, and original sketches and block prints of and by Gauguin. In 2003, the Paul Gauguin Cultural Center opened in Atuona in the Marquesas Islands.

Paul Gauguin's life inspired Somerset Maugham to write The Moon and Sixpence.

References
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Notes

External links

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