Gauguin years of life. Biography of Paul Gauguin and description of the artist's paintings

French painter, ceramic sculptor and graphic artist

Paul Gauguin

short biography

Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin(French Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin [øˈʒɛn ãˈʁi ˌpol ɡoˈɡɛ̃]; June 7, 1848 - May 8, 1903) was a French painter, ceramic sculptor and graphic artist. Along with Cezanne and Van Gogh, he was the largest representative of post-impressionism. In the early 1870s, he began painting as an amateur. The early period of creativity is associated with impressionism. From 1880 he participated in exhibitions of the Impressionists. Since 1883 he has been a professional artist. Gauguin's works during his lifetime were not in demand, the artist was poor. Gauguin's painting "When is the wedding?" - one of the most expensive paintings sold.

Biography and creativity

Paul Gauguin was born in Paris on June 7, 1848. His father, Clovis Gauguin (1814-1849), was a journalist in the political chronicle section of Thiers and Armand Mare's Nacional, obsessed with radical republican ideas; mother, Alina Maria (1825-1867), was from Peru from a wealthy Creole family. Her mother was the famous Flora Tristan (1803-1844), who shared the ideas of utopian socialism and published the autobiographical book Wanderings of a Pariah in 1838.

In 1849, after a failed anti-monarchist coup, Clovis, not feeling safe in his homeland, decided to leave France. Together with his family, he embarked on a ship bound for Peru, where he intended to settle in the family of his wife Alina and open his own magazine. These plans were not destined to come true. On the way to South America, Clovis died of a heart attack.

Thus, until the age of seven, Paul lived in Peru and was brought up in his mother's family. Childhood impressions, exotic nature, bright national costumes, a carefree life in his uncle's estate in Lima remained in his memory for the rest of his life, affecting his irrepressible thirst for travel, craving for the tropics.

In 1855, when Paul was 7 years old, he returned to France with his mother to receive an inheritance from his paternal uncle, and settled in Orleans with his grandfather. Gauguin quickly learns French and begins to excel in education. In 1861, Alina opens a sewing workshop in Paris, and her son is preparing to enter the Nautical School. But he does not stand the competition and in December 1865 is hired to sail as a "cadet", or a pilot's apprentice. Until 1871, he will be almost continuously sailing all over the world: in South America, in the Mediterranean, in the northern seas. While in India, he learns of the death of his mother, who, in her will, recommends that he "make a career, as he is completely unable to win the favor of family friends and may soon find himself very lonely." However, having arrived in Paris in 1872, he receives the support of his mother's friend Gustave Arosa, a stock trader, photographer and collector of modern art, whom he has known since childhood. Thanks to his recommendations, Gauguin gets a position as a stockbroker.

In 1873, Gauguin marries a young Danish woman, Matte-Sophie Gad, a member of the Arosa family. Gauguin also becomes a father: in 1874, son Emil was born, in 1877 - daughter Alina, in 1879 - daughter Clovis, in 1881 - son Jean-Rene, in 1883 - son Paul. In the next ten years, Gauguin's position in society was strengthened. His family occupies more and more comfortable apartments, where special attention is paid to the artist's studio. Gauguin, like his guardian Arosa, "collects" paintings, especially the Impressionists, and gradually writes them himself.

From 1873-1874, his first landscapes appear, one of them will be exhibited at the Salon of 1876. Gauguin met the Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro before 1874, but their friendship began in 1878. Gauguin has been invited to participate in Impressionist exhibitions since the beginning of 1879: the collector is gradually being taken seriously as an artist. He spends the summer of 1879 with Pissarro in Pontoise, where he paints gardens and rural landscapes, similar to those of the “maitre”, as well as everything that he will write until 1885. Pissarro introduces Gauguin to Edgar Degas, who will always support Gauguin, buying his paintings and urging Durand-Ruel, an Impressionist art dealer, to do so. Degas will become the owner of about 10 paintings by Gauguin, including "Beautiful Angela", "Woman with a Mango Fruit", or "Hina Tefatou"

In 1884, Gauguin moved with his family to Copenhagen, where he continued to work as a broker. However, after painting full time, Paul left his wife and five children in Denmark and returned to Paris in 1885.

In 1886-1890, Gauguin spends almost all his time in Pont-Aven (Brittany), where he communicates with a group of artists close to Symbolism. The first time the artist went there in 1886, wanting to take a break from Paris and save some money: life there was noticeably cheaper.

The island of Martinique, where Gauguin left in 1887 with the artist Laval, whom he met in Brittany, helped to make an evolution in the master's work, making Japanese influences noticeable in his works.

In 1887-1888 he visited Panama, where he observed the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1888 he lived for some time with Van Gogh in Arles and worked with him. The stay ended in a quarrel connected with one of Van Gogh's first bouts of insanity.

Experiencing since childhood, spent in Peru (in the mother’s homeland), a craving for exotic places and considering civilization a “disease”, Gauguin, eager to “merge with nature”, in 1891 leaves for Tahiti, where he lived in Papeete and where in 1892 he writes as many as 80 paintings. After a short (1893-1895) return to France, due to illness and lack of funds, he leaves forever for Oceania - first to Tahiti, and since 1901 to the island of Hiva-Oa (Marquesas Islands), where he marries a young Tahitian woman and works in full force: writes landscapes, stories, works as a journalist. On this island he dies. Despite illness (including leprosy), poverty and depression, which led him to attempt suicide, Gauguin wrote his best works there. Observation of the real life and way of life of the peoples of Oceania are intertwined in them with local myths.

Fame and influence

Glory came to the artist after his death, when in 1906 227 of his works were exhibited in Paris. The influence of Gauguin's work on the art of the 20th century is undeniable.

Gauguin's life formed the basis of Somerset Maugham's novel The Moon and the Penny. It describes a simple English broker, Charles Strickland, who left his family, work and home in order to paint. In the novel, Gauguin's life is cut short due to leprosy.

A crater on Mercury is named after Gauguin.

A biopic was made of Gauguin's last years, starring Donald Sutherland, The Wolf on the Threshold (1986). In 2003, another film was shot with Kiefer Sutherland in the title role - Paradise Found (2003), in which the artist's difficult relationship with his wife and his life in Tahiti take center stage. In 2017, the French film Gauguin. Journey to Tahiti” starring Vincent Cassel about the period of the artist’s life in Polynesia (the film premiered in Russian distribution on November 2, 2017).

Gallery

Sewing Woman (1880)

The Vision after the Sermon, or Jacob's Wrestling with the Angel (1888)

Cafe in Arles (1888)

Woman with a Flower (1891)

The spirit of the dead does not sleep (1892)

Are you jealous? (1892)

Woman Holding a Fruit (1893)

Her name was Vairaumati (1893)

The Fun of the Evil Spirit (1894)

Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? (1897-1898)

Never Again (1897)

Gathering Fruit (1899)

Still Life with Parrots (1902)

Paul Gauguin in cinema

Savage / Gauguin. In Search of Paradise (dir. Edouard Delyuk, 2017)
Yellow House (dir. Chris Durlacher, 2007)
Paradise Found (dir. Mario Andriccione, 2003)
The Wolf at the Doorstep / Oviri / Gauguin, Poverty at the Doorstep (dir. Henning Carlsen, 1986)
Gauguin: Savage and Genius (dir. Fielder Cook, 1980)
Lust for Life (dir. Vincente Minnelli, 1956)

Categories:

“No one wants my paintings because they are not like other artists…

A strange, insane public that demands the greatest possible originality from the painter - and at the same time does not accept him if his works do not resemble the works of others! The works of Gauguin never resembled others. Because he invented his art all his life.

Today he is called one of the most expensive artists in the world. In 2015, his painting “When is the wedding?” was bought for $300 million. If the impoverished poster-poster Paul Gauguin had known about this in the mid-1880s, he would have laughed. His fate did not portend either fame, or wealth, or worldwide recognition.

wanderer

It seems that Paul Gauguin was destined to wander the world. His grandmother Flora Tristan left France for Latin America. He himself was born in Paris in 1848, but rather quickly his family went to relatives in Peru. On the way, during this move, my father died. At the age of 17, Paul was hired on a merchant ship and saw Chile and Brazil ... What attracted him? The desire to be on the road all the time, not to sit still. Or maybe they were frightened by the gray everyday life in French Orleans, where the family ended up after returning from Peru. Sometimes it seems that Gauguin spent half his life on the road.

stock broker

The epic with the merchant fleet cost Paul the favor of his mother. But the guardian, family friend Gustave Aroz, helped the young man and got him a job at the stock exchange. Prosperous years began, Gauguin married the Danish Mette Gad, he had five children, he was satisfied with both life and his hobby. On Sundays, when he had free time, he painted.

At first it was just a pleasant hobby. And then, through the mediation of the same Aros, he met the Impressionists, realized how close their ideas were to him, took part in exhibitions ... And gradually he felt that painting was his real vocation.

in poverty

Metta did not understand and did not accept the refusal to work on the stock exchange and the decision to devote herself to art. She decided to live in her native Copenhagen with all the children, except for the youngest, who stayed with his father. They ended up in Paris in real poverty: the exhibitions were not fed, the paintings were not sold, and sometimes they had to be left to innkeepers in payment for hospitality. And the future most expensive artist in the world earned by posting posters on the Parisian streets.

Impressionism, which Gauguin followed, is in crisis, and, immersed in creative searches, Paul leaves for Brittany. Again on the road, again restless, but he is painfully looking for a new creative manner. This is how synthetism is born - a simplified style of writing, bright colors, decorativeness, the desire to combine pictures of the real world and one's own idea-impression of them. Those features by which we unmistakably recognize the master's hand.

Heaven on earth. What was he looking for on the island?

In the late 1880s and early 1890s, Gauguin again traveled a lot. They say that he was looking for Paradise on Earth, so he visited Martinique, the Marquesas Islands, and Tahiti. It is with Tahiti that the name of the artist is associated today.

“He rebelled against God, like an angel of darkness, and the Lord overthrew him, like Satanail, - the artist Gauguin ended his days in drunkenness and debauchery, suffering from a shameful disease ...”,- the head of the local Catholic mission spoke about him not too flattering. Well, Gauguin really was not a model of morality: he did not go to church, lived with a minor mistress, drank himself and soldered the natives, and at the end of his life he fell ill with syphilis ... And he worked: during his life in Tahiti, he painted a total of about 100 paintings. But there was no recognition, and therefore no money.

What was he looking for on the island? Most likely, the original native beauty. But it no longer existed: European settlers gradually killed local traditions, eradicated customs. However, the bright colors of the island and the continuing naturalness of life did not let go of the artist.

The audience laughed at his paintings

Gauguin tried to return to Paris, visited there on short trips. He held exhibitions, but the public laughed at his paintings, considering them similar to illustrations from children's books. Living in Tahiti or the Marquesas Islands was easier - cheaper, so with the help of friends, he again returned to his never found earthly paradise.

And he wrote less and less. Although he remained a prominent figure. Distinguished in his youth with great physical strength, bending horseshoes, working as a digger, Gauguin always attracted attention. In Tahiti, he clashed with local officials, published a newspaper with a circulation of 20 copies, incited local residents not to send their children to a Catholic school ... And he was not going to return to Paris, where a wave of interest in his paintings and his popularity was already beginning to grow. But he didn't know about it.

Gauguin died in 1903. The artist's friends did not rule out that it was murder or suicide: there was a syringe with morphine near the body. He was buried, the property was sold under the hammer, and part of it was simply thrown away. The local gendarmes did not yet know that Europe was starting to go crazy over his canvases...

Gauguin's carved walking sticks are now in the New York Museum. The beams of the hut, which the artist covered with not quite decent carvings, were transported to Boston. Each copy of the newspaper published by Gauguin is worth its weight in gold.

Paul Gauguin was born in Paris on June 7, 1848. His father, Clovis Gauguin (1814-1849), was a journalist in the political chronicle section of Thiers and Armand Mare's Nacional, obsessed with radical republican ideas; mother, Alina Maria (1825-1867), was from Peru from a wealthy family. Her mother was the famous Flora Tristan (1803-1844), who shared the ideas of utopian socialism and published the autobiographical book Wanderings of a Pariah in 1838.

At the beginning of his biography, Paul Gauguin was a sailor, later a successful stockbroker in Paris. In 1874 he began to paint, at first on weekends.

Struggling with the "disease" of civilization, Gauguin decided to live according to the principles of primitive man. However, physical illness forced him to return to France. The following years in his biography, Paul Gauguin spent in Paris, Brittany, making a short but tragic stop in Arles with van Gogh.

Creativity Gauguin

By the age of 35, with the support of Camille Pissarro, Gauguin devoted himself entirely to art, leaving his lifestyle, moving away from his wife and five children.

Having established a connection with the Impressionists, Gauguin exhibited his work with them from 1879 to 1886.

The following year he left for Panama and Maritinique.

In 1891, Gauguin sold 30 paintings, and then went to Tahiti with the proceeds. There he spent two years living in poverty, drawing some of his last works, and also writing Noa Noa, an autobiographical novella.

In 1893, in the biography of Gauguin, a return to France took place. He presented several of his works. With this, the artist renewed public interest, but earned very little money. Broken in spirit, ill with syphilis, which had been hurting him for many years, Gauguin again moved to the southern seas, to Oceania. The last years of Gauguin's life were spent there, where he suffered hopelessly, physically.

In 1897, Gauguin tried to commit suicide but failed. Then he spent another five years in drawing. He died on the island of Hiva Oa (Marquesas Islands).

Today, Gauguin is considered an artist who had an extremely great influence on contemporary art. He abandoned traditional Western naturalism, using nature as a starting point for abstract figures and symbols. He highlighted linear patterns, striking color harmonies that imbued his paintings with a strong sense of mystery.

For his biography, Gauguin revived the art of woodcuts, performing free, daring work with a knife, as well as expressive, substandard forms, strong contrasts. In addition, Gauguin created some excellent lithographs and pottery.

The artist was born in Paris, but spent his childhood in Peru. Hence his love for the exotic and tropical countries. H

and many of the best Tahitian canvases of the artist depict the 13-year-old Tehura, whom her parents willingly gave as a wife to Gauguin. Frequent and promiscuity with local girls led Gauguin to contract syphilis. While waiting for Gauguin, Tehura often remained lying on the bed all day, sometimes in the dark. The reasons for her depression were prosaic - she was tormented by suspicions that Gauguin decided to visit prostitutes.

Much less well-known pottery made by Gauguin. The technique of his ceramics is unusual. He did not use a potter's wheel, he sculpted exclusively with his hands. As a result, the sculpture looks rougher and more primitive. He valued works of ceramics no less than his canvases.

Gauguin easily changed techniques and material. He was also fond of woodcarving. Often experiencing financial difficulties, he was unable to buy paint. Then he took up the knife and wood. He decorated the doors of his house in the Marquesas with carved panels.

In 1889, having thoroughly studied the Bible, he painted four canvases, on which he depicted himself in the image of Christ. He did not consider this blasphemy, although he admitted that their interpretation is debatable.

Regarding the particularly scandalous painting “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane,” he wrote: “This picture is doomed to misunderstanding, so I have to hide it for a long time.

In his interest in the primitive, Gauguin was ahead of his time. The fashion for the art of ancient peoples came to Europe only at the beginning of the 20th century (Picasso, Matisse)

At the beginning of his biography, Paul Gauguin was a sailor, later a successful stockbroker in Paris. In 1874 he began to paint, at first on weekends. By the age of 35, with the support of Camille Pissarro, Gauguin devoted himself entirely to art, leaving his lifestyle, moving away from his wife and five children. Having established a connection with the Impressionists, Gauguin exhibited his work with them from 1879 to 1886. The following year he left for Panama and Maritinique. Struggling with the "disease" of civilization, Gauguin decided to live according to the principles of primitive man. However, physical illness forced him to return to France. The following years in his biography, Paul Gauguin spent in Paris, Brittany, making a short but tragic stop in Arles with van Gogh.

In 1888, Gauguin and Emile Bernard put forward a synthetic theory of art (symbolism), emphasizing planes and the reflection of light, non-natural colors in conjunction with symbolic or primitive objects. Gauguin's "The Yellow Christ" (Albright Gallery, Buffalo) is a characteristic work of the period. In 1891, Gauguin sold 30 paintings, and then went to Tahiti with the proceeds. There he spent two years living in poverty, drawing some of his last works, and writing Noa Noa, an autobiographical novella.

Today, Gauguin is considered an artist who had an extremely great influence on contemporary art. He abandoned traditional Western naturalism, using nature as a starting point for abstract figures and symbols. He highlighted linear patterns, striking color harmonies that imbued his paintings with a strong sense of mystery. For his biography, Gauguin revived the art of woodcuts, performing free, daring work with a knife, as well as expressive, substandard forms, strong contrasts. In addition, Gauguin created some excellent lithographs and pottery.

Many of Gauguin's works are represented in the United States, including The Day of the God (Art Institute, Chicago), Ia Orana Maria (1891, Metropolitan Museum of Art), By the Sea (1892, National Gallery, Washington), Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?" (1897, Museum of Art, Boston). Based on the events of Gauguin's life, William Somerset Maugham's Moon and Sixpence (1919) did much to promote the artist's legend that arose shortly after his death.

Those who read the novel by the English writer Somerset Maugham "The Moon and the Penny" may have noticed that the story of the protagonist of the work - the artist Strickland - strangely resembles the life of the French painter Paul Gauguin. And even not just reminds, but practically coincides. Although critics, puzzled by this problem for several decades, are still arguing and cannot come to a common point of view. And yet, with a high degree of certainty, it can be argued that Paul Gauguin became the prototype of Strickland. And the life of this artist is truly amazing.

Family. early years

Paul Gauguin was born on one of the revolutionary days of 1848. His father was an employee of the Nacional newspaper, which has a moderately republican direction. The revolution, which changed the political course of the country, forced the journalist to leave his homeland in 1849. But on the way to South America, right on the ship, he was suddenly overtaken by death. The widow and children did not live long in a foreign land and in 1855 returned to France.

Paul Gauguin studied at closed educational institutions, where he was arranged to save on a meager family budget. The atmosphere in these schools was unbearable for him. He endured and hurried time so that the hated study would end as soon as possible and he could finally fulfill his dream of becoming a sailor. The dream came true: at the age of 17, he went to serve as a sailor on a merchant ship, and then moved to the navy.

In Paris

After the "sea period" of youth and returning to Paris, the guardian assigned Paul Gauguin to work in a bank - a simple employee. This circumstance contributed to his independent position. Now he spent all his free time in museums, studying the paintings of the masters. Interest in art arose unexpectedly and inexplicably. In any case, the monotonous, gray life of a bank clerk could not provoke such a strange zigzag in the mind. But it happened.

Paul withdrew into himself, lost all interest in everything ordinary, worldly. He was now obsessed with a crazy passion - to paint pictures. To do this, he entered the private academy Colarossi.

First works

Finally, the first paintings by Gauguin appeared at the Paris exhibitions: “Susanna”, “The Seine at the Jena Bridge”, “Garden under the Snow” (1875 - 1883). In terms of the manner of execution, they were close to impressionism. Later, Gauguin became interested in the aesthetics of the Symbolists, who placed an emotional emphasis on color and line, and abandons the impressionistic manner of decomposing colors. In 1887, Gauguin left for about. Martinique to focus and hone your writing style. And the paintings painted there already demonstrate the decorativeness of color and the emphasized expressiveness of the silhouette. These main features determine the recognizable style of Gauguin.

Perfection

At the next stage of his life, Gauguin finally left the banking service and took up exclusively art, despite the extreme need. Living in Brittany (1888), he painted the nature and people of the province, where everyday features of antiquity were preserved (“Still life with puppies”, “Old maids in Arles”, “Arles cafe”). They also have special compositional techniques inspired by Japanese prints. In 1889 - 1890, Gauguin continued to improve his style. In his paintings “Hacks”, “Beautiful Angela”, “Hello, Mr. Gauguin!”, “Yellow Christ”, longing and fatigue caused by poverty and lack of recognition are visible.

To Tahiti

In 1891, Gauguin left for Tahiti - it was his old dream. There he worked hard and fruitfully, lived the most natural life among the simple-minded natives. In Tahiti, he painted his best paintings: "Conversation", "The Spirit of the Dead Wakes", "Are You Jealous?", "A Woman Holding a Fruit" and others. He was still returning to France (1893) to arrange his exhibition. Friends - artists were delighted with his new works, but the salon public did not accept such Gauguin.

Two years later, he left his homeland forever and returned to his beloved Tahiti. His work acquired the features of a religious and mystical direction, but he also wrote a lot of Tahitians. His work and way of life did not satisfy the colonial authorities, and she interfered with his life as best she could. In addition, Gauguin began to go blind. But even already seriously ill and almost blind, he continued to write.

Gauguin died on May 9, 1903, either from a heart attack, or it was suicide, or murder. Next to his bed was a morphine syringe, which could indicate any version. His paintings, painted in Tahiti, and with which he paid off with local merchants, were laid under his feet instead of rugs, used for dog bedding, cut into pieces to patch holey shoes. And everything that remained after the death of the artist in the hut was simply thrown into the trash.