Amongst all of the Post-Impressionist artists, Gauguin is the most neglected: Cezanne is often cited as the godfather of Modern Art due to his influence on Picasso (and consequently the rest of the modernist Art movement), and obviously the story of Van Gogh is well documented. Gauguin's legacy is much less certain. Thankfully Tate Modern is now at hand to take care of this. "Gauguin" opened at the Tate Modern yesterday and be warned, this exhibition is going to be HUGE, so book tickets early!
Some of the mythology surrounding Gauguin is rather unpleasant, and this could possibly be why his work isn't always as cherished as it should be. However it should be noted that Gauguin liked to create a bit of spin himself, and was very much interested in the mythology of ancient cultures which he intertwined with his own persona. Gauguin was also interested in the modern European storytelling of the Bible, and the mystery of the Christ figure.
Half Peruvian, Gauguin moved from Peru to France when he was just seven years old. Gauguin painted himself (literally) as an "exotic", adventurer and escapist of Western Culture. Which in a way he was. Moving to France at such a formative age, he probably had a lifelong urge to live a life in surroundings that were more like those colourful ones that he experienced in South America as a young boy. Gauguin has often been criticised for upping sticks and leaving his wife and children to escape to a life of sensualism in Martinique. The truth however is slightly less sensational; his wife Mette left him and went back to Copenhagen to live with her parents in comfortable middle class surroundings. It's safe to say that she was less than enamoured by Gauguin's sudden career switch from being a stockbroker to a penniless artist.
One of the things that will be evident in the exhibition is the exuberance of colour and the "spirit" of the work which he created. Gauguin clearly was passionate man, who in all likelihood led a very dissipated life, but when viewing his art there is definitely something spiritual going on. Probably Gauguin was suffering from the modern malaise of Ennui and wanted to opt out of Western society, retiring in a tropical paradise! So was he a tortured genius or merely a cultural tourist? It's probably unlikely that we will ever know for sure, even if all the evidence is at our disposal at Tate Modern during this excellent exhibition!
Paul Gauguin
Merahi metua no Tehamana (Les Aїeux de Tehamana / The Ancestors of Tehamana or Tehamana has many Parents) 1893
Oil on canvas 76.3 x 54.3 cm
The Art Institute of Chicago. Gift of Mr and Mrs Charles Deering McCormick
Paul Gauguin
Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel) 1888
Oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Paul Gauguin
Two Tahitian Women 1899
Oil on canvas 94 x 72.4 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of William Church, Osborn, 1949.
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