Paul Gauguin

In researching Paul Gauguin’s life for this post, I came across these four lovely videos from the National Gallery of Art, which tell Gauguin’s story much better than I could. Each is short; altogether it takes a little over half an hour to watch all four.

The Tahitian paintings are the ones that come to mind when I think of Gauguin, but many of his earlier paintings are very charming and more realistic.

Suzanne Sewing, 1880 — *Susanne Sewing,* Paul Gauguin, 1880

Still-Life with Fruit and Lemons (c. 1880) — *Still Life with Fruit and Lemons,* Paul Gauguin, 1880

Martinique Landscape 1887 — *Martinique Landscape,* Paul Gauguin 1887

I think Paul Gauguin was not a very nice man, at least not toward his wife. They had four children, but Paul was always going off and leaving them and his wife behind. In Tahiti, he took 3 child brides.

The Swineherd, Brittany (1888) — *The Swineherd, Brittany,* by Paul Gauguin 1880

Painter's Family in the Garden in Rue Carcel, 1881 — *Painter’s Family in the Garden in Rue Carcel,* Paul Gauguin 1881

La Bergère Bretonne, 1886 — *La Bergère Bretonne,* Paul Gauguin 1886

And now we go to Tahiti.

Tahitian Women on the Beach (1891) — *Tahitian Women on the Beach,* Paul Gauguin 1891

Sacred spring, sweet dreams, 1894 — *Sacred Spring, Sweet Dreams,* Paul Gauguin 1894

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? 1897 — *Where Do We* *Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?* Paul Gauguin 1897

Two Tahitian Women (1899) — *Two Tahitian Women,* Paul Gauguin 1899

I love all of these paintings. Gauguin is considered one of the leading Post-Impressionists. He was a major influence on Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque, among others.

3 responses »

zippyquilts on November 8, 2022 at 4:47 am said:

Why are so many great/famous men jerks?

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- Andrea R Huelsenbeck on November 8, 2022 at 2:15 pm said:
  
  I don’t know. I’m tempted to make a sweeping generalization like, “because they all are.” I thank God every day for my husband; he’s one of the good ones.
  
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Bill R. on November 8, 2022 at 6:18 am said:

I first became aware of Paul Gauguin many decades ago, when I saw a made-for-television movie about his life starring David Carradine. I find his work quite beautiful, but his life rather tragic. The tragedy of his life, as I recall, was mostly his own doing. So many great artists of all types wound up that way, but then so many didn’t. David Carradine, for that matter, was an actor who did some really good work (but not always) whose personal life also appeared to be a bit of a mess. Life imitating art, I guess, or vice versa.

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