Paul Gauguin
(French, 1848–1903)
Biography
Paul Gauguin was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose work made a lasting impact on 20th-century art. Employing a palette of both naturalistic and bright colors, Gauguin structured his works with Symbolist imagery, flat patterns, and modeled volumes like those of Paul Cézanne. “Don't paint too much directly from nature. Art is an abstraction,” he once proclaimed. “Study nature then brood on it and treasure the creation which will result, which is the only way to ascend towards God.” Born on June 7, 1848 in Paris, France, at the age of three he and his family moved to Lima, Peru only to return to France four years later. The young Gauguin worked as a stockbroker in Paris before embarking on a career in painting. His early works were clearly indebted to Impressionism, but Gauguin soon broke with the style. Having moved to the village of Pont-Aven in the Brittany region of France, the artist began depicting the local Breton population in their distinctive garb, as seen in his work Vision after the Sermon (1888). Gauguin notably spent 9 weeks living and working alongside Vincent van Gogh in the Provençal town of Arles. Disillusioned with France, Gauguin ventured to the Tahiti and the neighboring islands, where he infamously took up with indigenous women, painting them nude in mysterious scenes. Gauguin died of a syphilis related illness on May 8, 1903 in Atuona, French Polynesia at the age of 54. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.
Paul Gauguin Artworks
Paul Gauguin
(3,032 results)
.jpg "Fleurs dans un vase avec partition..., 1874–1876")
;-etude-de-figures-(verso).jpg "Paysage tahitien avec figure (recto); Etude..., 1892")
Paul Gauguin
Moïse sur la montage et Tahitiennes jouant..., 1893
Sale Date: April 24, 2024
Auction Closed
.jpg "La Orana Maria (Hail Mary)")
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