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The painter Paul Gauguin was an artist whose painting is difficult to classify in the current trends of the art epochs. Gauguin only came to painting late and his early professional orientation is evidence of little creativity. Activities in the navy and trading on the stock exchange were part of his sphere of activity in his early years. Gauguin was around twenty years old when he was integrated into the art scene in Paris. The painter found inspiration among the Impressionists and quickly became a respected member of the art circle. The restless artist did not find true fulfilment in the Impressionist mode of representation.
Gauguin joined forces with the painter Bernard. In Pont-Aven, Brittany, the painters define Synthetism. The painters seem to have taken a theoretical approach. Impressionist ideas merge with the visual language of Cloisonism. A return to the basic forms of aesthetic expression is the goal. Creating expression through a simplified language of forms and a reduced colour scheme. Characteristic for the pictorial elements are black contour lines. For Gauguin, synthesis meant the unity of real perception and symbolic meaning. The fusion is to be achieved by painting only from memory, as the painter's feelings intensify the impression of an experience of nature. Gauguin's depiction is characterised by an experimental colourfulness that dominates the paintings at the expense of the third dimension. This approach to ideas and the painterly realisation of them are part of the development of modern painting.
After this development, Gauguin seems to be still further in search of his artistic fulfilment. Van Gogh draws the painter's attention to Japanese woodblock printing. A close collaboration develops between the two artists, but it breaks up due to the two strong personalities. Gauguin emphasizes how much he appreciates honesty and purity in people and finally leaves France. French society does not represent the image the artist has of society. Paul Gauguin's restlessness and wanderlust led him to Tahiti. Here he hopes to meet the people who correspond to his ideals. The South Seas inspired the painter to his most famous works. Strong colours and decorative effects merge with symbols from mythology and create works that symbolise the artist's high ideals.
The painter Paul Gauguin was an artist whose painting is difficult to classify in the current trends of the art epochs. Gauguin only came to painting late and his early professional orientation is evidence of little creativity. Activities in the navy and trading on the stock exchange were part of his sphere of activity in his early years. Gauguin was around twenty years old when he was integrated into the art scene in Paris. The painter found inspiration among the Impressionists and quickly became a respected member of the art circle. The restless artist did not find true fulfilment in the Impressionist mode of representation.
Gauguin joined forces with the painter Bernard. In Pont-Aven, Brittany, the painters define Synthetism. The painters seem to have taken a theoretical approach. Impressionist ideas merge with the visual language of Cloisonism. A return to the basic forms of aesthetic expression is the goal. Creating expression through a simplified language of forms and a reduced colour scheme. Characteristic for the pictorial elements are black contour lines. For Gauguin, synthesis meant the unity of real perception and symbolic meaning. The fusion is to be achieved by painting only from memory, as the painter's feelings intensify the impression of an experience of nature. Gauguin's depiction is characterised by an experimental colourfulness that dominates the paintings at the expense of the third dimension. This approach to ideas and the painterly realisation of them are part of the development of modern painting.
After this development, Gauguin seems to be still further in search of his artistic fulfilment. Van Gogh draws the painter's attention to Japanese woodblock printing. A close collaboration develops between the two artists, but it breaks up due to the two strong personalities. Gauguin emphasizes how much he appreciates honesty and purity in people and finally leaves France. French society does not represent the image the artist has of society. Paul Gauguin's restlessness and wanderlust led him to Tahiti. Here he hopes to meet the people who correspond to his ideals. The South Seas inspired the painter to his most famous works. Strong colours and decorative effects merge with symbols from mythology and create works that symbolise the artist's high ideals.