Paul Gauguin: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Gauguin - Vision After the Sermon - 1888.jpg|270px|right|thumb|''Vision du Sermon'', 1888]] | [[File:Gauguin - Vision After the Sermon - 1888.jpg|270px|right|thumb|''Vision du Sermon'', 1888]] | ||
=== Pont-Aven colony and Synthetism === | === Pont-Aven colony and Synthetism === | ||
In 1886 Gauguin spent the summer at Pont-Aven in Brittany, which had long been established as an artists colony. Paul Gauguin lived there for | In 1886 Gauguin spent the summer at Pont-Aven in Brittany, which had long been established as an artists colony. Paul Gauguin lived there for several years in the 1880s and 1890s as the central figure of the colony, along with Paul Sérusier, Émile Bernard, Charles Laval, Édouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, and many others. Gauguin ventured into the '' Cloisonnism''' that was influenced by folk art and Japanese prints. Émile Bernard had pioneered this style of painting with strong outlines and flat areas of color, and Gauguin adopted it. He and the artists at Pont-Aven evolved toward what came to be called '''Synthetism''', where form and color became more balanced. Their work came to be distinguished by subject matter like that of the Belgian Symbolists; lack of interest in realistic representation; and bold use of colors. Their intention was to combine images in new ways that were completely unlike Impressionism. | ||
=== Influence on Les Nabis === | === Influence on Les Nabis === | ||
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== Involvement with Theosophical Society == | == Involvement with Theosophical Society == | ||
Gauguin's friend Paul Sérusier introduced many new ideas, such as | Gauguin's friend Paul Sérusier introduced many new ideas, such as [[Edouard Schuré|Edouard Schuré's]] ''Les Grands Initiés''', a study of world religions in which Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism were given equal place. It was all part of the latest fad sweeping through French intellectural circles, the obsession with Theosophy..."<ref>David Sweetman, ''Paul Gauguin: Complete Life'' (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1995), 230.</ref> Various forms of esotericism were being explored in their circle of friends - [[Rosicrucianism]], [[Freemasonry]], [[Spiritualism|spiritualism]], and [[Kabbalah]]. Sérusier and the Nabis were drawn to the [[Rosicrucianism]] of Sâr Péladan and his Order of the Rose+Cross. Gauguin was more attracted to Theosophy: | ||
<blockquote> | |||
What appealed to Gauguin was the suggestion of a single wisdom, a universal truth that could be glimpsed in its various cultural manifestations amongst differing world cultures... It was no accident that he had turned to a religious subject for his first major painting... Over the coming twenty years, the effects of Sérusier's enthusiastic sermons would grow and develop until finally, Gauguin's art would become the fullest expression of that belief in the oneness of mankind through a universal faith which Helena Petrovna Blavatsky had launched.<ref>David Sweetman, ''Paul Gauguin: Complete Life'' (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1995), 432.</ref> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
Among Gauguin's French neighbors in Punaauia was '''Jean Souvy''', who shared some of his intellectual interests: | Among Gauguin's French neighbors in Punaauia was '''Jean Souvy''', who shared some of his intellectual interests: | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
The main interest Souvy held for Gauguin lay in his personal studies, he was a Theosophist, part of the spreading network launched by Madame Blavatsky, furnished with publications through the San Francisco branch of the Society. Throughout his retirement Souvy worked on a collection of thought on various philosophical and Theosophist topics which he entitled ''Cogitations''... They reveal a mind running on lines close to Gauguin's, especially the, when his thoughts were once again turning to religious topics...<ref>David Sweetman, ''Paul Gauguin: | The main interest Souvy held for Gauguin lay in his personal studies, he was a Theosophist, part of the spreading network launched by Madame Blavatsky, furnished with publications through the San Francisco branch of the Society. Throughout his retirement Souvy worked on a collection of thought on various philosophical and Theosophist topics which he entitled ''Cogitations''... They reveal a mind running on lines close to Gauguin's, especially the, when his thoughts were once again turning to religious topics...<ref>David Sweetman, ''Paul Gauguin: Complete Life'' (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1995), 431-432.</ref> | ||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
The writings of [[Gerald Massey]] became important to the artist; he wrote out many pages of Massey's theories on the myth of Christianity into his notebooks. | |||
== Resources == | == Resources == | ||
Revision as of 18:44, 25 October 2016
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Paul Gauguin was a French post-impressionist painter best known for his paintings of Tahiti. He was heavily interested by Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, spiritualism, and other spiritual movements of the time.
Personal life
Early years
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was born on June 7, 1848 in Paris. Due to the revolutionary upheavals in Europe at that time, his family moved to Peru to live with Mme. Gauguin's relatives there. After political unrest in Peru, Gauguin's widowed mother moved her children back to Paris. Paul was sent to live with an uncle in Orléans, and had his early schooling there. When Paul was fourteen, he attended a naval preparatory school in Paris. He served in the French merchant marine and navy for several years, traveling as far as India. Back in France in 1871, Gauguin took a job as a stockbroker at the Paris Bourse and was a successful businessman for eleven years. In addition to stocks, Gauguin dealt in the art market. He married Mette, a Danish woman, and they had five children. After a financial market collapse in 1882, he decided to turn his hobby of painting into a full-time occupation. By 1891, Gauguin's wife and family rejected him.
Later years and death
Gauguin died suddenly on May 8, 1903.
Artistic career
Gauguin's earliest paintings were Impressionistic, created while he was still a stockbroker in Paris. He associated with Camille Pizarro and Paul Cézanne.
Pont-Aven colony and Synthetism
In 1886 Gauguin spent the summer at Pont-Aven in Brittany, which had long been established as an artists colony. Paul Gauguin lived there for several years in the 1880s and 1890s as the central figure of the colony, along with Paul Sérusier, Émile Bernard, Charles Laval, Édouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, and many others. Gauguin ventured into the Cloisonnism' that was influenced by folk art and Japanese prints. Émile Bernard had pioneered this style of painting with strong outlines and flat areas of color, and Gauguin adopted it. He and the artists at Pont-Aven evolved toward what came to be called Synthetism, where form and color became more balanced. Their work came to be distinguished by subject matter like that of the Belgian Symbolists; lack of interest in realistic representation; and bold use of colors. Their intention was to combine images in new ways that were completely unlike Impressionism.
Influence on Les Nabis
Gauguin had a strong influence on a group of student artists who gathered at the Académie Julian, particularly in the use of color. Led by Paul Sérusier, they called themselves Les Nabis. Their main principle was that an artist worked in symbols and metaphors expressing his own nature.
Tahiti
The Marquesa
Involvement with Theosophical Society
Gauguin's friend Paul Sérusier introduced many new ideas, such as Edouard Schuré's Les Grands Initiés', a study of world religions in which Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism were given equal place. It was all part of the latest fad sweeping through French intellectural circles, the obsession with Theosophy..."[1] Various forms of esotericism were being explored in their circle of friends - Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, spiritualism, and Kabbalah. Sérusier and the Nabis were drawn to the Rosicrucianism of Sâr Péladan and his Order of the Rose+Cross. Gauguin was more attracted to Theosophy:
What appealed to Gauguin was the suggestion of a single wisdom, a universal truth that could be glimpsed in its various cultural manifestations amongst differing world cultures... It was no accident that he had turned to a religious subject for his first major painting... Over the coming twenty years, the effects of Sérusier's enthusiastic sermons would grow and develop until finally, Gauguin's art would become the fullest expression of that belief in the oneness of mankind through a universal faith which Helena Petrovna Blavatsky had launched.[2]
Among Gauguin's French neighbors in Punaauia was Jean Souvy, who shared some of his intellectual interests:
The main interest Souvy held for Gauguin lay in his personal studies, he was a Theosophist, part of the spreading network launched by Madame Blavatsky, furnished with publications through the San Francisco branch of the Society. Throughout his retirement Souvy worked on a collection of thought on various philosophical and Theosophist topics which he entitled Cogitations... They reveal a mind running on lines close to Gauguin's, especially the, when his thoughts were once again turning to religious topics...[3]
The writings of Gerald Massey became important to the artist; he wrote out many pages of Massey's theories on the myth of Christianity into his notebooks.
Resources
The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals lists 7 articles by or about Paul Gauguin.