Delphi Complete Works of Paul Gauguin Read online

  The success of this painting effectively allowed Gauguin to become an influential member, perhaps even the leader, of the Pont-Aven School, which included the painters Paul Sérusier, Émile Bernard, Charles Laval, Louis Anquetin, Armand Seguin, Jacob Meyer de Haan.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  ‘Watermill in Pont-Aven’ by Paul Gauguin, 1894

  VAN GOGH PAINTING SUNFLOWERS

  Gauguin’s Martinique paintings were exhibited at Arsène Poitier’s gallery, where they were seen and admired by Vincent van Gogh and his art dealer brother, Theo van Gogh, whose firm Goupil & Cie had dealings with Portier. Theo purchased three of Gauguin’s paintings for 900 francs and arranged to have them hung at Goupil’s, thus introducing Gauguin to wealthy clients. At the same time Vincent and Gauguin became friends (on van Gogh’s part it amounted to something akin to adulation) and they corresponded together on art — a correspondence that was instrumental in Gauguin formulating his philosophy of art. Van Gogh relentlessly urged Gauguin to join him in the south for France, where they could establish an artist’s commune. Eventually, when running out of money in Brittany, Gauguin gave in and caught a train down to Arles.

  Gauguin’s relationship with Vincent was turbulent. In 1888, they spent nine weeks painting together at Vincent’s now famous ‘Yellow House’. Within weeks, however, their relationship began to sour. Gauguin wrote to Bernard: ‘In general, Vincent and I see eye to eye on very little, especially on painting.’ One recurring argument was whether it was best to paint after nature or from the imagination. Van Gogh mostly based himself on reality, while Gauguin composed many of his paintings from memory or his own invention. This difference of artistic opinion is reflected in the following portrait of van Gogh, portrayed painting a vase of sunflowers — a scene that was actually imaginary. Although Vincent had recently painted similar still life subjects, Gauguin cannot have seen his friend at work like this as the portrait was done in December, when there were no sunflowers to paint. Gauguin adopts a high viewpoint, which allows him to flatten the subject and treat it with the cloisonné style he had formulated in Brittany with Bernard. The subject, in particular the background, is treated as a configuration of flat colours, each separate and simplified. Van Gogh’s first impression on seeing the painting was that Gauguin had depicted him as a madman, though he later softened his view.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Vincent van Gogh in 1873, when he worked at the Goupil & Cie's gallery in The Hague.

  OLD WOMEN AT ARLES

  While together in Arles, Gauguin and van Gogh often worked on the same subjects, including the Café at Arles. Early in November 1888, van Gogh wrote to his brother that Gauguin was attempting a picture of the night café that he had already painted. Madame Ginoux was the proprietor of the Café de la Gare in Arles, where van Gogh had lodged upon his arrival in the Midi; it was frequented by prostitutes, three of whom Gauguin has portrayed in the background of his scene. He later reworked the canvas, adding the figure to the extreme left and the man conversing with the prostitutes. These two figures, and Madame Ginoux herself, had already been portrayed by van Gogh in other paintings. The work is signed in two places: on the marble table and on the edge of the billiard table.

  Van Gogh and Gauguin’s relationship quickly deteriorated and eventually the latter decided to leave. On the evening of 23 December 1888, according to a much later account of Gauguin’s, van Gogh confronted his friend with a razor blade, most likely after discovering his plans to shortly leave Arles. Later the same evening, van Gogh cut off a part of his left ear. He wrapped the severed tissue in newspaper and handed it to a local prostitute he was fond of, asking her to “keep this object carefully, in remembrance of me.” Van Gogh was hospitalised the following day and Gauguin left Arles. They never saw each other again, though they continued to correspond and in 1890 Gauguin went so far as to propose they form an artist studio in Antwerp.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  ‘The Night Café’ by Vincent van Gogh, 1888, Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut

  BONJOUR MONSIEUR GAUGUIN

  In December 1888 van Gogh and Gauguin saw Courbet’s famous Bonjour Monsieur Courbet in the Musée Fabre in Montpellier. Both artists were inspired to produce their own version of the image and Gauguin’s interpretation was completed several months later and bears very little resemblance to the original painting. He portrays himself as a wandering Jew, who meets his patron, Alfred Bruyas, accompanied by his manservant on the road to Montpellier. Bruyas doffs his hat to the artist, and the servant stands with his head respectfully lowered. Courbet’s painting underlines the changing status of the artist in the nineteenth century, choosing to represent himself in a romantic role, preferring to cast himself as a misunderstood, creative genius, working outside the norms of bourgeois society. Gauguin responds in a similar vein, though the composition of the figures is strikingly different. He prefers to present himself as an artistic martyr or victim, the arrogant stance of Courbet’s artist clearly absent from Gauguin’s solid and hunched figure.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  ‘The Meeting or “Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet”’ by Gustave Courbet, 1854

  THE YELLOW CHRIST

  Gauguin returned to the Breton village of Pont-Aven in 1889, following his disastrous stay in Arles with van Gogh. It was only for a short visit to Paris in the summer of 1889 to see the Exposition universelle and to arrange the Volpini Exhibition that Gauguin interrupted this sojourn. This time he stayed in Marie Henry’s inn at Le Pouldu, an isolated village in Brittany. Soon after his return to Pont-Aven, he painted The Yellow Christ, an extraordinarily rich and symbolic work, viewed by many as one of the artist’s most significant early paintings. It portrays the crucifixion taking place in nineteenth century northern France, as Breton women gather in prayer. Gauguin relies heavily on bold lines to define his figures and reserves shading only for the women. The autumn palette of yellow, red and green in the landscape echoes the dominant yellow in the figure of Christ. The bold outlines and flatness of the forms in this painting are typical of the cloisonnist style. The use of the strong yellow pigment was inspired by the many hours Gauguin had spent working alongside van Gogh, who often employed this colour in his paintings.

  It is believed that Gauguin painted this canvas after the rejection he received from the nineteen-year-old Madeleine Bernard, with whom he had fallen in love. Gauguin was deeply hurt when the beautiful Madeleine instead became the lover of fellow artist Charles Laval. At once Gauguin saw himself as a martyr and utilised the figure of the suffering Christ to represent the painful rejection he had suffered.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  The Crucifix of Trémalo, Pont-Aven — a source of inspiration to Gauguin

  Portrait of Madeleine Bernard, 1888

  THE LOSS OF VIRGINITY

  While working in Paris in 1891, Gauguin became interested in Symbolism, which he introduced into several of his canvases. The unusual painting The Loss of Virginity, now held in the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, portrays a Breton landscape, with a naked woman lying in the foreground. Featuring a blunt, schematic style, with broad, flat bands of bright colour, bounded by dark outlines, the avant-garde conventions of symbolism are easily detected in the work. A fox, a symbol of Hindu mythology suggesting lust, nestles tamely by the woman’s head, as her left hand strokes the animal affectionately. In her right hand, a wilting red cyclamen connotes her loss of virginity. A wedding procession can be glimpsed in the background of the image, while several figures in Breton costumes approach the woman.

  The Loss of Virginity was Gauguin’s last painting before he left for Tahiti in April 1891. The model is thought to be the ar
tist’s twenty-year-old mistress, Juliette Huet, whom he left pregnant with his child when he sailed for French Polynesia. Inspiration for the nude figure has often been cited from Manet’s Olympia, which had finally been bought by the French state close to that time.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  ‘Olympia’ by Édouard Manet, 1863, Musée d’Orsay, Paris

  SUZANNE BAMBRIDGE

  Throughout 1890 Gauguin had formulated a bold project of making an artistic pilgrimage to Tahiti, which he envisioned as a tropical paradise untouched by the worldly taint of nineteenth century Europe. After securing a very modest grant from the French government to fund his trip — which he incidentally chose to exaggerate to the locals on his arrival — he set about making his preparations to leave Europe.

  After a successful auction of paintings in Paris at the Hôtel Drouot in February 1891, along with other events such as a banquet and a benefit concert, he had raised enough funds to purchase his tickets. The auction had been greatly helped by a flattering review from Octave Mirbeau, courted by Gauguin through Camille Pissarro. After visiting his wife and children in Copenhagen, for what turned out to be the last time, Gauguin set sail for Tahiti on 1 April 1891, promising to return a rich man and make a fresh start. His avowed intention was to escape European civilisation and “everything that is artificial and conventional”. Nonetheless, he still took with him a collection of visual stimuli in the form of photographs, drawings and prints.

  The artist spent the first three months in Papeete, the colony’s capital, which he was disappointed to see had already been decidedly influenced by French and European culture. His vision of a primitive idyll was instead a ramshackle city with old world pretensions. The residents at first were cautious how to treat the flamboyantly dressed artist, not entirely sure how official his visit was. Some feared he was in fact sent to spy upon their actions. Gauguin was unable to afford Papeete’s pleasure-seeking life-style and the following early portrait, now housed in Brussels’ Royal Museums of Fine Arts, was speedily completed to earn much needed cash.

  Suzanne Teriimarama Bambridge (1844-1911) was the daughter of Thomas Bambridge, the first representative of the Bambridge family in Tahiti, and his wife Maraea O’Connor. She was of English origin by her father, who was born in London in 1801, and of Irish origin by her mother. Suzanne was a leading member of the Tahitian high society and her portrait was at first a promising commission for the artist to secure. Sadly, it was not well-received by the sitter.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  WOMAN WITH A FLOWER

  Following his disappointment in Papeete, the colonised capital, Gauguin decided in September to move to Mataiea, 28 miles from the centre, where he painted Woman with a Flower (Vahine No Te Tiare), now held in the Baltimore Museum of Art, his first major Tahitian portrait. The model was apparently so overcome at sitting for the artist that she insisted on wearing her best outfit of clothing, usually reserved for Sundays. The dress reveals the effects of European colonisation on the Tahitians, as women were gradually abandoning the traditional pareo (a rectangular cloth tied around the waist and worn as a skirt) in favour of the less revealing Westernised dresses, which the Christian missionaries encouraged the local women to wear. In spite of his best efforts of capturing an image of the exotic Tahitian, once again Gauguin had been thwarted in his intention.

  Along with the striking use of van Gogh-esque yellow, the canvas is also notable for the care with which Gauguin delineates Polynesian features. He sent the painting to his patron George-Daniel de Monfreid, a friend of Schuffenecker, who was to become the artist’s devoted champion in Tahiti. By late summer 1892, Vahine No Te Tiare was being displayed at Goupil’s gallery in Paris. Art historian Nancy Mowll Mathews believes that Gauguin’s encounter with exotic sensuality in Tahiti, so evident in the painting, was by far the most important aspect of his sojourn there.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  HAIL MARY

  Before embarking on a series of pictures inspired by Polynesian religious beliefs, Gauguin created this captivating canvas, titled Ia Orana Maria, now generally regarded as his first major Tahitian canvas. It embraces the Christian theme of ‘Hail Mary’, which the artist described in a letter of March 1892: “An angel with yellow wings reveals Mary and Jesus, both Tahitians, to two Tahitian women, nudes dressed in pareus, a sort of cotton cloth printed with flowers that can be draped from the waist. Very sombre, mountainous background and flowering trees… a dark violet path and an emerald green foreground, with bananas on the left. I’m rather happy with it.” The composition was largely inspired by a photograph he owned of a bas-relief of a Javanese temple of Borobudur.

  Many of Gauguin’s Tahitian paintings are now notable for presenting the lushness and mysterious splendour of his new island home. Yet, they seldom portrayed precise representations of Tahitian life, but rather concerned reinterpretations of objects and persons taken out of their normal settings, as was the case with several of his paintings completed in Brittany. Once again in Ia Orana Maria, Gauguin reprises the theme of profound religious faith and its effect on an apparently simple people — a subject that had dominated some of his most important Breton works. The fusion of Christian iconography and Tahitian subject matter, juxtaposed with the imagery of the Javanese temple of Borobudur, evoke a hypnotic and magical aura. The relaxed but penetrating gaze of the Tahitian woman to the right holds our attention, as we feel we are pulled into the eerie mystery of the scene.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  WHEN WILL YOU MARRY?

  Gauguin included this painting in an exhibition he mounted at Durand-Ruel’s gallery back in Paris in 1893, giving it the exorbitant price of 1500 francs — higher than almost any other work included in the show, revealing the importance he attached to it. The artist felt that the painting’s exoticism would appeal to the Parisian market and his use of an inscription bearing the title indicates his knowledge of his audience. The question of ‘When will You Marry?’ appears to be asked by the woman in the pink dress in the background, while her companion’s desire to find a husband is echoed by the flower she wears behind her ear. There was much interest in Tahitian marriages in Paris at that time due to an autobiographical novel by Pierre Loti. Le Mariage de Loti, the author’s second novel, was the first to win him great fame and a wide following. It describes Loti’s romantic liaison with an exotic Tahitian girl named Rarahu, which later became the basis for the 1883 opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes. Gauguin’s inclusion of the theme of Tahitian marriage was a clear attempt to appeal to an audience that would have recognised the popular contemporary subject. We know that Gauguin himself had read the novel, which helped shape contemporary Western perceptions about the languorous Tahitian women.

  When Will You Marry? (1892) was on loan to the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland for nearly a half-century, until it was sold privately by the family of Rudolf Staechelin to Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani, in February 2015 for approximately $300 million, the highest price ever paid for a work of art at that time.

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Detail

  Sketch for ‘When Will You Marry?’

  SPIRIT OF THE DEAD WATCHING

  Gauguin later wrote a travelogue of his time in Tahiti, first published in 1901 and titled Noa Noa, originally intended as a commentary on his paintings and describing his experiences on the island. Modern critics have since suggested that the contents of the book were in part fantasised and even plagiarised. He reveals that he had at this time taken a thirteen-year-old girl as his native wife or vahine (the Tahitian word for “woman”), a marriage contracted in the course of a single afternoon. Her name was Teha’amana, called Tehura in the travelogue, who was pregnant by him by the end of
summer 1892. Teha’amana was the subject of several of Gauguin’s paintings, including Merahi metua no Tehamana and the now celebrated Spirit of the Dead Watching.