Paul Gauguin
1848-1903
Paul Gauguin was a stockbroker living in
Paris.
 In his spare time painted and became
involved with the Impressionists,
exhibiting at 5 of their shows.
 In 1883, at the age of 34 he left his job,
his wife and his five children to follow his
dream of being a painter.
 He was great friends with Pissarro.

Early life of Gauguin

In 1886 he moved to Brittany to paint and
escape civilisation.

Here people tended to flock around him
and he gained the role of a master.

He was eccentric , self centred and moody
and these were seen as signs of genius.
Gauguin in Brittany,1886-1888
Gauguin had spent some time in Peru as a
young Child which may explain his
interest in exotic places.
 In 1887 he travelled to Panama in Central
America and Martinique in the Caribbean
to paint.
 He wanted to experience a primitive
culture.
 However he returned from here ill and
disappointed.

Paris-Central America 1887

Back in Pont Aven
he began to paint in
a new Style
influenced by
1.
2.
Cezanne
Japanese Prints (he
saw as “simple and
composed”)
Back again to Pont Aven ,
Brittany,Feburary,1888.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Didn’t paint too closely from nature
rather drew ideas from it.
Shapes became flat areas surrounded by
strong outlines.
Used only the boldest/strongest colours
from Nature.
No shadows
No Linear Perspective.
Gauguin’s new style
Didn’t paint too closely from
nature rather drew ideas from it.
Shapes became flat areas
surrounded by strong outlines.
Used only the boldest/strongest
colours from Nature.
No shadows
No Linear Perspective

We will now study in detail what is said to
be Gauguin’s first Masterpiece, Vision
after the Sermon , Jacob Wrestling with
the Angel.

This painting is a clear indication of his
change in style and the influence of
Japanese Prints, Cezanne and Artists like
the symbolists.
Vision after the Sermon.
Vision after the Sermon1888

Subject matter

Gauguin was
impressed by the
simple faith of these
Breton women.
It is not a religious
picture so much as
a picture about
religious people.


He attempts to
show the strength
of their faith.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.
Subject matter
 The scene was inspired by the piety of
these peasant women and their response
to a sermon they have just heard, which
causes them to have a vision about the
struggle between good and evil.
 The scene could be described as anti –
naturalistic as it is based on the woman’s
vision of Jacob wrestling the angel.
Vision after the Sermon, 1888.
Theme

It represents not only Jacob’s struggles as
seen in the minds of the pious Bretons,
but Gauguin’s own struggle, in trying out
a new painting technique and style to
convey his new ideals.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.
Composition

The women form a
curve on the lower
left of the painting
making a
continuous line by
their white caps and
dark dresses.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.

Composition


This is counterbalanced by the
strong diagonal of the
tree trunk.
Its leaves lead the
viewer to the upper
right hand corner of
the canvas, hence
creates a frame for
the focal point of the
painting, the
women’s vision.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.

Composition

The diagonal sweep
of the apple tree a
pictorial device
borrowed from
Japanese art.

It divides the real
from the imaginary.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.

Style

He rejects
traditional
perspective, crops
the foreground
figures, flattens
form and rejects
the use of shadow
showing the
influence of what?

Japanese Prints
Vision after the sermon, 1888.

Style



Style
The cropped figure
of the priest is a
feature borrowed
from the Japanese
art and Degas.
The head-dress and
collars are treated
as flat white areas
shadowed with pale
blue.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.


Style
This profile of
the praying
woman shows
features
borrowed
from Japanese
art, folk art
and medieval
stained glass.

He has
simplified
figures and
used flat unmodelled (no
use of shading
or 3-D) areas
of bright
colour.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.

Colour


Unmixed colours
are applied in large
areas, unnaturalistic
colours...red, white,
black, blue and
brown.
Solid shapes are
outlined by a blue
black line.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.



Colour
The face is barely
modelled, it is boldly
highlighted in white.
The lower lip, formed
with the crimson
strokes picks up the
crimson in the
background.
Vision after the sermon, 1888.

In 1888, on the invitation of Van Gogh, he
moved to Arles in the South of France, to
help Vincent begin an Artists colony.

However this trip ended in complete
disaster and he returned to Paris.
Gauguin in Arles, 1888
Subject Matter

The Yellow Christ 1889
Inspired by the
religious shrines ,
Gauguin modelled the
figure of the crucified
Christ on a wooden
Christ he saw in a
church in Pont Aven.
The Yellow Christ 1888/1889
Subject Matter
 Gauguin was deeply impressed by
profoundly superstitious Catholicism of
Breton peasants.
 This scene focused on the strength of the
Breton women’s faith, representing the
power of their inner vision (like in vision
after the Sermon) which brings to reality
Christ’s suffering.
The Yellow Christ,1889
Subject Matter

The Yellow Christ 1889
The Sailor climbing
over the stone wall is
a little incidental
detail, giving a sense
of everyday life.
The Yellow Christ 1888/1889
Style

The Yellow Christ 1889
Gauguin sought a
unity in his painting
in which line, colour
and colour all
contributed to the
mood he was hoping
to express.
The Yellow Christ 1888/1889
Style
Figures are
simplified almost
childlike in his
style.
 It is nonnaturalistic
imaginary forms
are combined
with a stylized
landscape.

The Yellow Christ 1888/1889
Colour
Painted with flat areas
of un-modelled colour
and bold outline.
 The colour of the main
focus of the painting,
the yellow Christ is
echoed throughout the
yellows and oranges of
the landscape.

The Yellow Christ 1888/1889
Colour
 Treated in non
naturalistic
heightened colour,
the background of
depicts the village of
Pont Aven.
 Colours do not fade
into the background
(he does not use
aerial perspective)
The Yellow Christ 1889
The Yellow Christ 1888/1889
Technique

Technique is crude
and primitive.
The Yellow Christ 1888/1889
Composition

The Yellow Christ 188
The cross placed
slightly off centre,
dominates the entire
painting, spanning
both height and
breadth of the
canvas.
The Yellow Christ 1888/1889
Composition
The Yellow Christ 1889
Balancing the strong
verticals formed by
the arms of Christ the
picture is divided
horizontally into
 Background
 Middle ground
 Foreground

The Yellow Christ 1888/1889

He longed for a more primitive life and
moved to Tahiti in 1891

Returned to Paris in 1893 penniless

Left again for Tahiti in 1895 never to
return to France again.
Tahiti 1881-1883
1895-1903
Tahitian Women on the Beach,
(1891)
1.
Tahitian people represented to him the
mystery of human existence.
2.
Paintings are exotic not picturesque.
3.
He seeks to express in his work the life
of the people.
4.
He suggests a primitive lost paradise
Characteristics of Gauguin’s
Tahitian work.
Gauguin's painting
methods


Different from
Impressionists who applied
colours in small dabs and
Van Gogh who used rich,
thick impastos and
expressionistic
brushstrokes.
He used broad areas of
colour. Flat but with subtle
variations in hue.
Woman with Flower 1891
Gauguin’s painting
methods




He added wax to
make paint smooth.
Paint is seldom thick,
being thinnest near
the edges of forms.
Forms are often
outlined with Prussian
blue and earth red.
He applied paint
thinly with palette
knife or paintbrush.
The Midday Nap, (1894)
Gauguin's painting
methods


He often applied thin
paint on un-primed
hessian or sackcloth
not canvas.
The rough weave of
the canvas is often
visible through the
paint.
Woman with
Flower 1891
Gauguin's painting
methods
Perhaps these
techniques (his
use of thin paint
and sackcloth)
were a
consequence of
his poverty.
Woman with Flower 1891
Subject Matter
The women of Tahiti
with their classic
gentle beauty
Fascinated Gauguin.
 He idealised them
comparing their
behaviour and
manner to the
women of Ancient
Greece.

Two Tahitian Woman with Mango
Blossoms, 1899
Subject matter and
Theme.
 The two women ,
dressed in a South
Sea manner,
represent Gauguin’s
dream of an idyllic
society
Two Tahitian Woman with Mango
Blossoms, 1899
Theme
 Gauguin presents a
view of the islands
as a serene and
peaceful haven but
in reality he never
found the heaven
on earth that he
sought there
Two Tahitian Woman with Mango
Blossoms, 1899
Composition
 The women fill the
whole canvas.
 They carry a basket
of mango blossoms,
the most typical
flower of the
tropics, like an
offering of their
innocence and
purity of spirit .
Two Tahitian Woman with Mango
Blossoms, 1899



Style and technique
Forms are often
outlined with
Prussian blue and
earth red.
He applied paint
thinly with palette
knife or paintbrush.
Two Tahitian Woman with Mango
Blossoms, 1899


Style and technique
He used broad
areas of colour. Flat
but with subtle
variations in hue.
Two Tahitian Woman with Mango
Blossoms, 1899

However Tahiti was not the primitive ,
mysterious and unaffected Paradise that
Gauguin’s paintings suggest.European’s
were everywhere on the island.

Gauguin was often very short on money
whilst on the Island, he was at one time
so deeply in debt that he tried to poison
himself.
The Real Tahiti

He used the Tahitian people as a vehicle for his
sense of mystery of human existence.
Where do we come from? Who are
we? Where are we going to? 1897


However the mystery was more in Gauguin’s
mind than the reality of Tahitian peoples lives.
His paintings show men and women removed
from the influence of Europeans however in
reality were everywhere on the island.
Where do we come from? Who are
we? Where are we going to?


Subject Matter
Gauguin was suffering from a deep depression,
his daughter in Denmark had died, he was
suffering from fever and infection when put all
his energy into painting this work. He planned to
kill himself when he finished this painting.
Where do we come from? Who are
we? Where are we going to?

However he took advantage of the open
and welcoming nature of the native
Tahitians, especially embracing their open
attitudes to sexuality.

He lived with and had relationships with
several Tahitian girls some as young as 13
and 14 years of age, at least one girl bore
him a child.
The Real Tahiti
1902, A fight with French soldiers left him
with a broken leg.
 However these difficulties do not come
across in his cool, timeless and
mysterious paintings.
 Suffering from eczema and awaiting a jail
sentence he died suddenly of a heart
attack in May 1903.

End of life
Discuss the innovations in painting which
developed in the second half of the 19th
century. Support your discussion with
reference to named works by at least 2
artists.
 Illustrate your answer.

Leaving cert sample question