Early Gauguin

     Thus far, I have studied Gauguin's early to mid body of works extending from the 1875 to 1893, through Ingo Walther's Gauguin. Gauguin began as a stock manager and member of the French bourgeois where he comfortably supported his dutch wife Mette and five children. In Paris, he began to take classes in Impressionism and produced his first works after seriously studying the Impressionist method. One of his first works, The Seine in Paris between Port d' léna and the Port d' Granelle (1875), showed his tremendous talent and ability to integrate a personal flare into a widely established style. He used the impressionist technique of having visible paint marks on the canvas, but he contrasted their platform in that he portrayed a static emotion in his work. Traditional impression often highlighted "an unemotional scrutiny" of society, but Gauguin shows a sentimental perspective by showing what appears to be a small mother and son in the foreground of the image. He also shows ports, industrialized ones at that, in a peaceful light, making his painting further discordant with the pure Impressionist perspective. 

     Gauguin quickly broke away from the landscape platform he used in his first major work and brought his perspective to the human form and often incorporate elements of myth into his art. His Caricature Self-Portrait (1889) characterizes these stylistic elements; this work in particular highlight biblical myth by having a snake weaving its way through Gauguin's fingers, apples hanging next to his face, and a halo perched above his head. Not only does this show Gauguin's use of people and myth in his art, but also his personality. As an individual, Gauguin was fairly self-important; he would believe his early work would not sell because of public ignorance and often viewed himself in higher regard than other artist. The viewer of the painting not only gets this sense from the halo above Gauguin's head, but also Gauguin's eyes are disapprovingly squinted and his mouth is cocked arrogantly to one side. Additionally, Gauguin shows the most depth and contrast in his face, in comparison to the relatively flat elements of the portrait. 

     Another facet of Gauguin's work I could explore is his relationship to the native people of Tahiti. After spending decades in Paris and then the French countryside, he moved to Tahiti were spent many years immersing himself in the indigenous culture. During his years in Tahiti, Gauguin took on a lover named Tehura who helped him break down the walls between his Western culture and her indigenous one. One day when Gauguin home to the tent he shared with Tehura, he struck a match which scared Tehura, as she thought it was the return of a dead spirit. This "primitive" reaction inspired his 1892 painting, The Spirit of the Dead Keeps Watch. In the foreground, Gauguin shows Tehura lying on her stomach on their bed.  Her heals are crossed and her arms are crunched with her palms down, showing her submission and fear, while her facial expression emotes innocence. What Gauguin is trying to capture in this work is a sense of primitive nobility -- that this culture and these people are more human than their European counterparts. This idea relates back to the idea of the noble savage and Montaigne's "Of Cannibals", in the belief that indigenous people have a higher standard of ethics and more noble innate behavior than European society. 

     For my essay, I will likely either further examine the role of myth or native people in Gauguin's art or perhaps some combination of the two as they are the most striking and unique elements of his collection.

Fun side note: Gauguin lived with Van Gogh for a period during his time in France. During which, he experience the full spectrum of Van Gogh's mania. One night Gauguin needed some space from Van Gogh had grown paranoid of Gauguin. Van Gogh followed him carrying a razor and then stole off into the night; the next morning Van Gogh had severed his ear during a manic swing and Gauguin had to care for him.