Description
Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin (Paris, 1848 – Hiva Oa, 1903) was a French painter and sculptor, whose canvases are characterised by boldly used pure colours depicting unspoilt and exotic nature, in which Breton and Polynesian female figures are often placed. His works are distinguished by the very sharp contours of the figures and an aura of mystery and solemnity that permeates many of the scenes depicted. Gauguin spent many years of his life in the pursuit of a true and authentic primitivism, and this led him in the first instance to dissociate himself from the urban lifestyle typical of Paris, preferring to move to environments that were at first rural (the Breton countryside) and later exotic (Polynesia, Haiti), while on an artistic level it led him to reject any academic dictates and enthusiastically experiment with innovative techniques. Adventure, travel, nature, research and existential hardship are the hinges on which Gauguin’s entire biography, celebrated only posthumously, revolves.
