Gauguin, (Eugène-Henri-)Paul
Gauguin, (Eugène-Henri-) Paul (b. June 7, 1848, Paris, Fr.--d. May 8, 1903,Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia), one of the leadingFrench painters of the Postimpressionist period, whose development of aconceptual method of representation was a decisive step for 20th-century art.After spending a short period with Vincent van Gogh in Arles (1888), Gauguinincreasingly abandoned imitative art for expressiveness through colour. From1891 he lived and worked in Tahiti and elsewhere in the South Pacific. Hismasterpieces include the early Vision After the Sermon (1888) and WhereDo We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (1897-98).
Althoughhis main achievements were to lie elsewhere, Gauguin was, to use a fancifulmetaphor, nursed in the bosom of Impressionism. His attitudes to art weredeeply influenced by his experience of its first exhibition, and he himselfparticipated in those of 1880, 1881 and 1882. The son of a French journalistand a Peruvian Creole, whose mother had been a writer and a follower of Saint-Simon,he was brought up in Lima, joined the merchant navy in 1865, and in 1872 begana successful career as a stockbroker in Paris.
In 1874 hesaw the first Impressionist exhibition, which completely entranced him andconfirmed his desire to become a painter. He spent some 17,000 francs on worksby Manet, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Renoir and Guillaumin. Pissarro took aspecial interest in his attempts at painting, emphasizing that he should `lookfor the nature that suits your temperament', and in 1876 Gauguin had alandscape in the style of Pissarro accepted at the Salon. In the meantimePissarro had introduced him to Cézanne, for whose works he conceived agreat respect---so much so that the older man began to fear that he would stealhis `sensations'. All three worked together for some time at Pontoise, wherePissarro and Gauguin drew pencil sketches of each other (Cabinet des Dessins,Louvre).
In 1883-84the bank that employed him got into difficulties and Gauguin was able to paintevery day. He settled for a while in Rouen, partly because Paris was tooexpensive for a man with five children, partly because he thought it would befull of wealthy patrons who might buy his works. Rouen proved a disappointment,and he joined his wife Mette and children, who had gone back to Denmark, whereshe had been born. His experience of Denmark was not a happy one and, havingreturned to Paris, he went to paint in Pont-Aven, a well-known resort forartists.
Here, hestopped working exclusively out-of-doors, as Pissarro had taught him, andgenerally began to adopt a more independent line. His meeting with van Gogh,the influence of Seurat, the doctrines of Signac, and a rediscovery of themerits of Degas--especially in his pastels--all combined with his own streak ofmegalomania to produce a style that had little in common with the thoughtfullyricism of the work of his erstwhile mentor Pissarro. Monet confessed to aliking of his Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (1888; NationalGallery of Scotland), which he saw at the exhibition Gauguin organized in 1891to finance his projected excursion to places where he could live on `ecstasy,calmness and art'; the proceeds amounted to 10,0000 francs, some of it comingfrom Degas, who bought several paintings. There were still evident in these newworks traces of pure Impressionism, and of the very clear influence ofCézanne (as in the Portrait of Marie Lagadu, 1890; ArtInstitute of Chicago)--a fact pointed up by a Cézanne still life ownedby Gauguin which is shown behind her--but basically this period marked theparting of the ways between Gauguin and Impressionism.
Gauguin'sart has all the appearance of a flight from civilisation, of a search for newways of life, more primitive, more real and more sincere. His break away from asolid middle-class world, abandoning family, children and job, his refusal toaccept easy glory and easy gain are the best-known aspects of Gauguin'sfascinating life and personality. This picture, also known as Two womenon the beach, was painted in 1891, shortly after Gauguin's arrival inTahiti. During his first stay there (he was to leave in 1893, only to return in1895 and remain until his death), Gauguin discovered primitive art, with itsflat forms and the violent colors belonging to an untamed nature. And then,with absolute sincerity, he transferred them onto canvas.
Список литературы
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