Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)

One of the greatest artists of post-impressionism. In his early career, Gauguin exhibited (1881–86) with the impressionists in Paris. 'The Vision After the Sermon' (1888) is a key work in Gauguin's break with the naturalism of impressionism. His belief that form and pattern should represent mental images influenced symbolism. Gauguin developed his own 'synthetist' style of expressionism characterized by bold contours and large areas of unmodulated colour. Inspired by ‘primitive’ art, he left France for Tahiti in 1891. The late works, often of South Sea islanders, convey a sense of mystery and myth. They include 'Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?' (1897) and Faa Iheihe (1898).

Text source: The Oxford World Emcyclopedia