Post-Impressionism and Gauguin

Leone/Belotti5B

Lucrezio Caro

REALISM… The Truth

IMPRESSIONISM… Experiments with light, color, and atmosphere Advances in technology…portable canvas & paints Monet

Some review:

Impressionism was influenced by Realism:

• scenes of contemporary life

• personal views and subjects; art for art’s sake

• avant garde attitude; the artist is separate from the mainstream

Some review:

Impressionism was influenced by Realism:

Impressionism was mainly concerned with:

• the play of light on surfaces

• intensity of colour (canvases primed white; no black used)

• informal compositions

Informal compositions were inspired by the wide-spread use of photography (thanks to the invention of roll film) and the resulting candid photos.

We call the next generation Post-Impressionists

“Post” signifies after.

The only thing this group of artists has in common is that they were influenced by the Impressionists’ use of intense colour.

Their importance lies in their huge influence on the artwork of the 20th century: Modernism.

The Vision after the Sermon, 1888

Paul Gauguin

Distortion of space!!Distortion of colour!!

The Yellow Christ,

1889

Paul Gauguin

The beginnings of abstraction!!

500 years of tradition was thrown out the window!!

Self Portrait with Halo,

1889

Paul Gauguin

Abstract forms, colours and symbolism!!

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, 1897

Paul Gauguin

Van Gogh and Gauguin…influenced “Expressionism”

20th Century Western Art has its roots in the Post Impressionists

Post-Impressionism

• First art to concentrate on a psychological perception of reality

• Differs from other art in that it…• Simplifies• Omits Details• Concentrates on the significance of form

PAUL GAUGUIN

• Vocal, flamboyant, recognized• Wanted freedom…journeyed around the world in his search…wanted

to return to the natural BUT with a modern expression• Became recognized as a symbolist and a liberator of color

Gauguin continued...

• Gauguin’s art aims at five qualities:• Ideational• Symbolist• Synthesis• Subjective• Decorative

• Strong, selfish personality

Gauguin continued…

• Originally a stockbroker with 5 children

• …but left his family to pursue art on his own in Paris.

• Then he Europe for Tahiti, and later ended up in the Marquesas Islands

GAUGUIN•His style: inspiration from stained glass, Japanese prints, and cloisonne enameling

•PRIMITIVISM--art movement of late 19th century characterized by exaggerated body proportions, animal totems, geometric designs and stark contrasts

•He considered his style synthetism-

Synthesized the subject with the artist’s

Feeling, using line, shape, color, etc.

Gauguin had a multicultural awareness due to his extensive travel of the world.

Gauguin gave up his successful life to escape civilization and live as a painter

in Tahiti. Painting took over his life in 1888.

Known for his arbitrary use of secondary and tertiary colors.

He was a very arrogant man who thought quite highly of his own ability

as a painter.

Gauguin was also very inspired by the visual characteristics of Japanese

printmaking. Gauguin, Self Portrait, 1888.

Paul Gauguin

POST-IMPRESSIONISM Paul Gauguin

Gauguin flattens his picture plane much like the Japanese printmakers that he

often studied.

This was painted while he was in Tahiti. While in the foreign land, he used exotic people to represent biblical characters.

In this painting he uses a Tahitian woman to represent the Virgin Mary, and

he uses a young Tahitian boy to represent the Young Christ.

This painting clearly demonstrates Gauguin’s use of arbitrary intermediate

and tertiary colors in his paintings.

Paul GauguinIa Orana Maria (Hail Mary),

1891.POST-IMPRESSIONISM

POST-IMPRESSIONISM Paul Gauguin

Paul GauguinSelf Portrait With Halo, 1889.

Gauguin thought quite highly of himself as a creator of art. The concept as a ‘creator’

caused Gauguin to see himself as a prophet. He believed himself to be as important as a prophet because of his

ability to see the world in a visionary way as well as his ability to depict that

visionary world onto his canvases.

This is a self portrait of Gauguin surrounded by biblical references. Notice the apples to the right of his face, and the

snake that he holds in his hands. There are many biblical references to sin, while at

the same time the painting alludes to Gauguin being divine.

POST-IMPRESSIONISM Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin, Woman With a Flower, 1891POST-IMPRESSIONISM

POST-IMPRESSIONISM Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin, Tahitian Women on the Beach, 1891 POST-IMPRESSIONISM

POST-IMPRESSIONISM Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, 1897.POST-IMPRESSIONISM

Gauguin’s painting reads from right to left in this case. ( just as Japanese writing is read from right to left )

Emphasis is built on the concept of the “Golden Mean” or “Rule of Thirds”.

This image was done toward the end of Gauguin’s career and it is known as his Masterpiece. It was his largest work and was created in only a month. This work was completed just prior to his attempted suicide by way of an arsenic overdose. (He was saved when his body violently rejected the poison!)

POST-IMPRESSIONISM Paul Gauguin