Gauguin: Maker of Myth at Tate Modern and National Gallery of Art

Special Exhibitions

Gauguin: Maker of Myth at Tate Modern and National Gallery of Art
By STAN PARCHIN
April 19, 2010

Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903). Self-portrait (1889). Oil on wood. 79.2 x 51.3 cm (31.2 x 20.2 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903). Tehamana Has Many Parents (Merahi metua no Tehamana) (1893). Oil on canvas. 76.3 x 54.3 cm (30 x 21.4 in.). Art Institute of Chicago.

The special exhibition Gauguin: Maker of Myth traces the artistic evolution and career of the French Post-Impressionist painter, draftsman and sculptor from 1880 to 1903. A monumental retrospective of some 200 works in every medium and genre from public and private collections, it appears at Tate Modern (September 30, 2010-January 16, 2011) and the National Gallery of Art (February 27-June 5, 2011). The last major shows devoted to Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) were in London (1966) and Washington, D.C., Chicago and Paris (1988-89), making this traveling presentation a unique opportunity to reassess his importance in the history of modern art.

The exhibition explores: Gauguin's role as storyteller and mythmaker through his reinvention and appropriation of European narratives and Maori legends; his use of religious and mythical symbols; and the manipulation of his own artistic identity. Attention is paid to Gauguin's favorite subjects, among them creation, reincarnation, life-cycle myths, the femme fatale, Venus, Eve and temptation, the Nativity and the noble savage. His remarkably profound ideas about human nature and religion are reflected in the powerful imagery of his paintings, watercolors, pastels, drawings, prints, ceramic and wooden sculptures, decorated functional objects, rarely seen illustrated letters, sketchbooks, memoirs and other publications.

Vision of the Sermon (1888) and Teha'amana Has Many Parents (1893) demonstrate the inspiration Gauguin derived from Tahiti's tropical flora, fauna, daily island life and traditions. Self-portrait as Christ in the Garden of Olives (1889) and Self-portrait with Manau tu papau (1893) reveal the artist's fascination with role-playing in the guises of victim, saint, Christ-like martyr and sinner. Gauguin's working practices and thought processes are emphasized throughout the installation.

A consummate world traveler, Gauguin sailed the South Seas. He lived in Peru, Paris, Martinique, Tahiti and other places. The international loan exhibition features many of his iconic paintings from various locales. Scenes of daily life from the artist's colony of Pont-Aven in Brittany join depictions of Christian worship in the Breton countryside. Portraits, still-lifes and landscapes accompany carved wooden door panels from Gauguin's hut in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, his escape from European civilization. There the influential and celebrated pioneer of Modernism, disenchanted with Paris, studied the rapidly disappearing Maori culture to infuse his mesmerizing art with rich poetic narrative and deeper spiritual meaning.

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