Moments of Paul Gauguin

Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao is a logistical triumph. Curator Henri Loyrette has done something immensely complex in drawing together works by Paul Gauguin from 65 collections from across the world. The geographic diversity of lenders is mirrored by the range of works in the show: paintings, ceramics, prints, drawings and objects.

Gauguin’s early paintings show him wrestle with the principles of Impressionism, techniques that he learnt through closely studying the work of artists such as Edgar Degas and Paul Cézanne and through working alongside his mentor Camille Pissarro. Growing in confidence, Gauguin deliberately looked to other cultures: the distinctly Celtic north-west of France, the far-flung Caribbean Island of Martinique and the colours and cultures of the Pacific. By taking a closer look at his works we can discover the many ways Gauguin was shaped at particular moments in his practice.

Paul Gauguin
Still life with horse’s head 1886

Gauguin looked to escape industrialised modern Paris, travelling widely in search of a more rustic and traditional way of life. He experimented with colour, form and composition in his still-life paintings, expanding on his Impressionism and experimenting with pointillist brushstrokes after seeing the work of Georges Seurat. Gauguin probably saw the Parthenon marbles 438–32 BCE in the British Museum on a brief trip to London in 1885 and likely used a plaster copy of one of the horse’s heads for this painting. Still life with horse’s head 1886 shows Gauguin’s fascination with non-Western cultures as he incorporated a Chinese doll and a Japanese painted fan into the composition.

Paul Gauguin
Portrait of Madeleine Bernard 1888

In 1888, in Pont Aven in Brittany, Gauguin met Madeleine Bernard, the daughter of his friend and fellow artist Émile Bernard. He was captivated by the young woman’s intellect and strength of mind, and soon developed a strong, yet unrequited, attraction to her. This exquisite portrait presents Madeleine as a seductress, her pinned up hair and side-long glance somewhat at odds with her reputation as a mystic. In a plot twist, Madeleine becomes engaged to Gauguin’s good friend and fellow artist, Charles Laval and, in a rage, Gauguin ends his friendship with Laval over the engagement.

Paul Gauguin
Te faaturuma (The brooding woman) 1891

One of the first paintings Gauguin completed in Tahiti. He considered this painting to be the best of his works from this time. It was acquired by the French Impressionist artist Edgar Degas, who owned a number of works by Gauguin. Silent, meditative and brooding – the rendering of the woman the demonstrates Gauguin’s mastery of colour and form – foreshadowing the modernist art movement.

Paul Gauguin
Hina tefatou (The moon and the earth) 1893

Gauguin had a fascination with Tahitian mythology and culture and incorporated many elements of Tahitian beliefs, customs and symbolism into his paintings. Gauguin's understanding of Polynesian creation stories was gleaned from the ethnographer Jacques-Antoine Moerenhout's Travels to the Pacific Ocean 1837, and other popular travelogues of the time. Gauguin was drawn to the story of the moon goddess Hina and her son, the earth god Fatou. Hina asks Fatou to make the people immortal but Fatou denies her request, condemning humans to their fate. Gauguin paints this exchange in Hina's outstretched arms, Fatou's indifferent expression and the leafy vine that connects to the two.

Paul Gauguin
Breton village in the snow c 1894

Breton village in the snow c 1894 was discovered on an easel in the artist’s studio in Atuona after his death. No date. No signature. The painting likely dates to his third trip to Brittany – when he arrived in Marseilles from Tahiti in 1893. It is assumed that Gauguin finished work on the painting in Tahiti and it remained a poignant reminder of his homeland during his final days in the Marquesas island of Hiva Oa.

Paul Gauguin
Still life with Hope 1901

Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh shared an intense but complex friendship. Both had a deep admiration for the other’s work, yet their time together was marked by conflict, argument and disagreements. The relationship between the two is one of the more significant friendships in art history, leaving an enduring impact on the art world. The sunflowers in Still life with Hope evoke this friendship, and Gauguin’s period working alongside van Gogh, often in front of the same motif, in Arles late in 1888.

In Tahiti, Gauguin asked his friend Daniel de Monfreid to send him sunflower seeds for planting. Gauguin had travelled to French Polynesia with prints and photographs of works by his heroes, his ‘family of friends’. Still life with Hope includes, at the top left corner, a reproduction of Pierre Puvis de Chavanne’s Hope c 1871–72 (Musee d'Orsay, Paris).

Paul Gauguin
Portrait of the artist by himself 1903

Paul Gauguin completed his final self-portrait just months before dying on the Marquesas island of Hiva Ao. He presents himself very simple, against a blue-wash background, without pretence or bravado. This work is often compared to Egyptian mummy portraits, intended to safeguard the memory of the deceased.

Gauguin's World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao runs until 7 October 2024. This is only part of Paul Gauguin's story. To find out more subscribe to The Gauguin Dilemma on your favourite podcast app or listen here.