VIENNA.- Vienna is currently hosting a major art event: the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien is presenting "Gauguin – unexpected," the first comprehensive retrospective of Paul Gauguin's work in the city since the 1960s. On view from October 3, 2024, to January 19, 2025, the exhibition offers a fresh look at this complex and influential figure in modern art.
Discover the man behind the art and gain a richer understanding of his complex legacy
Curated by Evelyn Benesch, "Gauguin – unexpected" showcases Gauguin not just as a Post-Impressionist, but as a pivotal artist who pushed the boundaries of painting, transforming it from a mere representation of the visible world into an expression of inner states, archetypes, and powerful emotions. The exhibition traces his artistic journey, from his early days among the Impressionists to his embrace of Symbolism and Synthetism, culminating in a unique visual language that resonates deeply with 20th-century artists.
A key aspect of this exhibition is its focus on the "unexpected" elements of Gauguin's oeuvre. While his paintings are well-known, the exhibition also highlights the richness and quality of his graphic works and sculptures. These often-overlooked pieces offer crucial insights into his evolving style, demonstrating his departure from academic traditions and his bold experimentation with form. They also reveal his fascination with the interplay between different cultures and artistic traditions.
Gauguin's artistic beginnings were rooted in Impressionism. Like his contemporaries, he initially focused on capturing the fleeting nature of the world around him, painting landscapes and scenes of everyday life. However, his work always possesses a distinct quality, lacking the ephemeral lightness that characterizes typical Impressionist paintings. He quickly expands his artistic horizons, venturing into sculpture, working with diverse materials like ceramics and wood, and exploring various graphic techniques.
A turning point came in the 1880s when Gauguin made the bold decision to abandon a conventional life and dedicate himself entirely to art. This led him to seek refuge from urban life and what he perceived as the constraints of civilization. He first traveled to Brittany in 1886, followed by a trip to Martinique, a French colony, in 1887. The vibrant light of the tropics and the simplicity of life there captivated him, though his artistic style at this stage still remains grounded in Late Impressionism.
A pivotal shift occurred during his second stay in Brittany in 1888. Gauguin began to paint less from direct observation and more from memory and imagination, giving rise to his distinctive Symbolist and Synthetist style. His forms became more simplified and stylized, and his use of color became more expressive and patterned. This period also saw him create the "Suite Volpini," a series of prints that exemplifies his new approach to graphic art, emphasizing the projection of compositions onto the flat surface. He began to associate with Symbolist writers like Stéphane Mallarmé, who recognized in Gauguin's visionary art a visual counterpart to their literary work, hailing him as a pioneer of Symbolist and Synthetist painting.
In 1891, Gauguin embarked on his first voyage to Tahiti. By this time, his artistic style was firmly established, and his social and artistic circles had shifted. Tahiti brought a new vibrancy to his palette. Drawing inspiration from a collection of photographs of global art he carried with him, he created captivating new worlds, blending Western and Eastern artistic traditions with the unique culture of French Polynesia.
Life in the tropics was not without its challenges. Financial hardship and illness plagued Gauguin. He returned to France briefly to promote his work and present his Tahitian paintings to a wider audience. However, even his partly fictionalized account of Polynesian culture, "Noa Noa," and the accompanying illustrations, which blended Western artistic techniques with indigenous woodcarving, failed to fully resonate with the French public.
Ultimately, Gauguin chose to return to the South Pacific, leaving France permanently in 1895. He witnessed firsthand the ongoing effects of colonization in Tahiti and eventually retreated to the remote Marquesas Islands in 1901, where he died in 1903. Even in his final years, he continued to develop his distinctive artistic vision, creating works that fused Western traditions with his own artistic innovations and the influences of Marquesan culture.
The exhibition acknowledges the complex and often controversial aspects of Gauguin's life and legacy. It recognizes that his views on other cultures were inevitably shaped by the Eurocentric and paternalistic perspectives of his time. He idealized and sometimes stereotyped the cultures he encountered.
"Gauguin – unexpected" does not aim to offer a definitive judgment on Gauguin the man. Instead, it focuses on his remarkable artistic evolution and his profound contribution to the development of modern art. His diverse body of work, characterized by its high degree of abstraction and its vibrant use of color, has inspired generations of artists and continues to captivate audiences today.
The exhibition features over 80 works spanning Gauguin's entire career, including paintings, works on paper, and sculptures. These pieces have been generously loaned from major private collections and prestigious international museums, such as The Art Institute of Chicago, Tate, London, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan, Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Národní galerie in Prague, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Albertina in Vienna, and the Kunsthaus Zürich. This impressive collection of works promises a truly comprehensive and insightful exploration of Gauguin's artistic genius, and is currently on view for visitors.
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