Gauguin achieves the consummate expression of his…
1897 CE
An enormous contemplation of life and death told through a series of figures, beginning with a baby and ending with a shriveled old woman, the work is surrounded by a dreamlike, poetic aura that is extraordinarily powerful.
Gauguin had flattened his imagery with sometimes unsuccessful results before the 1890s, but his "primitivism" has become less forced throughout this decade.
The influences of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes have led him to create increasingly rounded and modeled forms and a more sinuous line; as a result, Gauguin's images become more luxuriant and more naturally poetic as he develops marvelously orchestrated tonal harmonies.
Images
Paul Gauguin: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (1897); oil on canvas 139.1 cm (54.7 ″); Width: 374.6 cm (12.2 ft); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Subjects
Regions
Polynesia
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