Last Friday I went to the Gauguin Portraits exhibition at the National Gallery in London. Gauguin is known for his brightly coloured paintings and iconic style and I was interested to see some of his paintings in the flesh and learn more about the artist. This exhibition shows how he painted portraits throughout his career, depicting family, friends and intimates around the world, often in an unconventional style for its time. It also shows how he had a charismatic and forceful personality which at some points sits rather uncomfortably with the viewer.
Gauguin was obviously quite a self-obsessed man and continually depicted himself in paintings, often in different guises and personalities. Below he has depicted himself as Christ in the Garden of Olives. His mask-like face is framed by bright red hair in a dark foreboding landscape.
In his first years as an artist, Gauguin frequently painted his wife and their five children. This early depiction of his Danish wife, Mette, is fairly conventional. It was painted when Gauguin was still working as as stockbroker. She is seated in an evening dress and is surrounded by trinkets - Gauguin uses it to show the wealth of their comfortable life. Rather ironically, soon after it was painted the stock market crash of 1882 meant that he lost his job and they had to move out of Paris for cheaper lodgings.
This painting depicts Gauguin's four year old daughter Aline who is dwarfed by giant oranges. This was a rather unconventional layout as the oranges become the centre of the attention and his daughter is just to the side and looking down. The composition is reminiscent of the paintings of Edgar Degas who also used a similar approach and was a great supporter of Gauguin's work.
In 1891, Gauguin travelled to Tahiti in search of an unspoilt, non-Western culture. It helped that it was French speaking and he created a life there for several years.
Hi depictions of the local women are beautifully coloured, but there is an underlying uneasiness to them when you get to know his background and relationships with the very young women of the island. He exploited his position as a privileged Westerner and entered into many sexual relations with young girls, 'marrying' two of them and fathering children. When you know this, the paintings take on a different feel and the melancholy of the sitter comes through.The Tahitian woman above sits in a colonial French rocking chair, wearing a bright pink missionary dress.
The painting above is called Woman with a Mango and depicts Teha'amana, his first 'wife'. I love the vibrant yellow background and the knowing smile on her lips.
The painting above is called 'The Flowers of France' and was painted in Tahiti but shows how much France remained in Gauguin's mind. Like the painting of the oranges above, the flowers become the main focus of the composition whilst a Tahitian boy sits anxiously to the side.
More vibrant yellow, this time depicted in the missionary dress of a Breton woman. Here, Gauguin combines the two cultures of France and Westernised Tahiti, which was quite daring for its time. He returned to France, feeling like his time in Tahiti had made him unique among contemporary artists in Paris. He paraded about in exotic clothes and decorated his studio in bright yellow to evoke the atmosphere of the South Seas.
This exhibition continues until 26th January 2020.
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