Belinda Thomson

Gauguin by Himself is unique in its approach, giving equal weight to Gauguin's activities both as an artist and as a writer. It provides a rare insight into his intractable character and uncompromising ideas and follows the extraordinary and complex development of his art from hesitant impressionism, through the experimental synthesis of his Breton paintings to the striking color and powerful forms of his Tahitian work. His letters to his wife and friends, including many to fellow painters such as Pissarro and Van Gogh, comment freely on contemporaries such as Cézanne, Monet and Degas, and challenge head-on the aesthetic concerns of avant-garde Paris in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. They also chart Gauguin's increasingly hazardous travels around the globe in pursuit of his elusive ideal of the primitive; from Paris and Copenhagen to Brittany, Provence, Panama, The West Indies and finally to the South Pacific. His words are both abrasive and confrontational and yet, as we hear him bemoaning his misfortunes and solitude in exile, they also reveal the vulnerability of the disillusioned self-styled 'savage', who, despite chronic illness and disappointment, never lost his intense love of making art. Illustrated with over 230 of his most powerful and decorative works of art, Gauguin by Himself offers a fresh look at the diverse faces and talents of a man who chose to live outside the bounds of bourgeois marriage, family and society, and eventually many miles from his native homeland, in order to fulfill his vocation as a 'great artist'.

"Following established precedent, Gauguin by himself is concerned to present as comprehensive a picture of the life and work of its subject as possible, by means of the artist's paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculpture and prints on the one hand, and his written words on the other. Paul Gauguin, like Vincent van Gogh, was unusual among his contemporaries in the importance he attached to the activity of writing. As well as being a lively correspondent, at certain moments in his career he found the written word a more biddable medium for self-expression than paint and canvas. Gauguin's art and writing combined provide an extraordinary charting of his progress as he learned to master his craft and ventured forth around the colonial globe in pursuit of an elusive dream. Although compilations have been devoted to Gauguin as a writer, this is the first publication to attempt a complementary presentation of the two activities." "A complete edition of Gauguin's correspondence is in the process of being published and a number of facsimiles of his various self-contained 'books' such as his Cahier pour Aline or Noa Noa exist, but a comprehensive collection of his other writings and journalism has yet to appear. The current selection has been made with a view to providing insights into Gauguin's character and thought, as well as a concise and self-explanatory counterpoint to his artistic development; it does not pretend to be exhaustive. It draws most heavily on Gauguin's correspondence with family and friends. His writings on more general topics, most of which came at the end of his life when he was too ill to paint, are introduced in so far as seemed appropriate to elucidate the decisions he had made in life and art and his attitudes to the role of the artist in contemporary society."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
1 alternate | English | Description provided by Bowker | score: 7
This volume aims to give equal weight to the full range of Gauguin's activities both as an artist and a writer. His letters, including many to fellow painters such as Pissarro and Van Gogh, comment freely on contemporaries such as Cezanne, Monet and Degas, and meet head-on the changing aesthetic concerns of avant-garde Paris in the last two decades of the 19th century. They also chart his increasingly hazardous travels around the globe in pursuit of his elusive idea of the primitive from Paris and Copenhagen to Brittany, Provence, Panama, the West Indies and finally the South Pacific.
English | Description provided by Bowker | score: 3
This unique book gives equal weight to Gauguin's activities, both as an artist and a writer, providing a rare insight into his intractable character and uncompromising ideals.… (más)