Paul Gauguin, Influencing the Rise of Fauvism | Documentary

[Music] foreign [Music] the birth of modern painting most likely took place in France in the second half of the 19th century and in the early 20th century under the impetus of the modern era brought forth by the Industrial Revolution and the liberalization of customs behind the various appellations such as impressionism quantilism post-impressionism fatherism cubism surrealism and abstract art the artist became more than a witness he became an actor even a media of modern society The Works of these Visionary painters who shape the essence of modern painting are today among the most prized on the market this documentary series presents an overview of the various actors of these different movements post-impressionism is an ensemble of artistic movements that developed between 1885 and 1905. it diverged from impressionism and even opposed it the term mainly applies to painters like Van Gogh Surah toulouse-lautrec and Goga though the style of painting evolved the essence of the impressionist Revolution was not put into question visual emotions were freely transposed on the canvas [Music] thank you [Music] foreign there's a magnificent Harmony between these female characters who form a sort of synthesis and the surrounding nature this is a magnificent example of goga's revolutionary conception of color an example is we can feel the emancipation of color if you look at the center you see this blue surface that looks like a small Lake but look again and you realize it is Pond but the shadow of the tree standing outside he really played with the ambivalence that can be created with color and the synthesis between the characters it's clear that the bodies of these two women fused together in a certain way had a very particular conception of the female body the body is often seen in a state of metamorphosis the body nearly becomes decorative and truly matches Nature's ornaments [Music] there's an idea of Harmony among the different elements of nature [Music] Paul Goga was born in Paris on June the 7th 1848 and he died at the age of 55 in hiva owa in the Marquis islands in the French peloponnesians a post-impressionist painter he was the leader of the ponteven school and inspired the Nabi movement considered as one of the major French painters of the 19th century Goga along with Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh had without a doubt the most influence on the painting movements of the 20th century famous for his pension for naturalism he spent a good part of his life in Tahiti and the Marquis Islands in order to flee Western Society between misery travels exhaustion and Desperation this Visionary artist succeeded in creating extraordinary Works in which he transcribed with great intensity his sensual vision of life [Music] was born in 1848. his father was from or Algeria his mother was from a great Spanish family who had emigrated to Peru often idolize his family's background in his later writings especially his mother's side as she was from an important family and also the side of his maternal grandmother Flora Tristan who had an important role as a historical figure as a lady of character as a revolutionary she might have played a role in gogan's personal development Peruvian Origins might have influenced his art and his belief in his distant and mysterious Origins [Music] let us discuss his childhood he was born in Paris where he resided only a short time before leaving for Peru his father died unfortunately during the trip so he lost his father at an early age and his mother a few years later Goga had a pretty difficult childhood who's on the road for a very early age his first travels led him to continue traveling later on he spent his early childhood years in Lima Peru before returning to France where he settled down for the first part of his life thank you [Music] foreign [Music] became an artist early on but he only considered himself an artist rather late in life his first career was as a sailor he joined a ship as a sailor and set out and search for adventure for a few years then he became a stockbroker and made money he was rather Bourgeois he had a beautiful apartment and during that time he even married he practiced painting a bit and this calling became dominant in 1893 he decided to quit his career to devote himself to painting oh gogum met the Impressionists thanks to Camille pisaro whom he met in 1874 at the age of 26. he exhibited his work at the first cell law of the Impressionists two years later in 1876. and he continued exhibiting at each cell law until 1886. while at the beginnings of his Parisian career he visited his master and friend pissarroa in Normandy in 1884. foreign t with him Goga painted the city and its surroundings but it was not enough to live on so he briefly left with his wife and five children to his wife's family in Copenhagen Denmark in 1885 he returned to Paris to paint full time he had left his wife and children in Denmark for he did not have the means to ensure their subsistence it is at that time that he met Vincent van Gogh with whom he remained friends foreign Hard Times came rather quickly he had very little money in the beginning his career started off with great difficulty in Paris he met people made friends but decided to leave again first in Brittany in 1886 he went to ponteven for the first time a small village in the Breton Regional finister where there were already a tradition of residing artists he spent many Summers there in the small village who stay in a sort of BNB that had been referred to the glenek BNB the time pontaven was nothing but a mere Village of 1500 inhabitants located in the finistera region of Brittany many foreign artists resided there well before the 1880s especially in the summer and especially American British and polish artists paint color vendors and galleries progressively establish themselves there and the municipality even encouraged the movement by allowing bars to remain open until 10 pm when Goga arrived there in 1886 the French artists in Vogue at the time were Maxim Mohra an impressionist Emil Bernal who practiced quezonism Posse and Felix Jobe Duval who were proponents of synthesism Paul Goga immediately became interested by Emil Bernard the upholder of quezonism this pictorial technique uses flat forms separated by fine Contours a bit like in the technique of stained glass he was also very interested in synthesm O It's during that time that gogra found his own aesthetic language his synthetic style as we call it it's at that time that artistically speaking Gogan became in the moment that he distanced himself from his impressionist period and developed his own style [Music] synthetic art differs from impressionist art by its representation of Nature and of reality which is an interior reality centered on the imagination on Fantasy on dreams so it is the opposite of the impressionism which is more interested in let us say a superficial representation of Nature and which is much more interested in depicting an atmosphere is an artist who focused on an interior subjective imaginary vision of Nature and reality we can see that there's a great difference also Gaga's synthetic style defined itself through its use of color very intense chromatisms very strong contrasts in color [Music] he liberated himself in his use of color we can nearly speak of an emancipation of color we can see gogan's interest for Pure Color he used unmixed colors which he would immediately apply on the canvas in paintings that are typical of Goga we can often see a refusal to use traditional perspectives it's a return to flatness we can also see that the figures and characters in his paintings have very defined Contours that's why his artist called quasanist his art evokes the quasanist technique an enamel work technique which he adapted using strong Contours and very luminous colors work we can already feel a tendency towards a more abstract representation of nature [Music] influenced by the painter Emil Bernard and by the symbolist movement Paul Goga abandoned impressionism to elaborate a new pictorial Theory called synthetism Vision after the sermon was painted in this style in pontaven in 1888. it was also go guys first attempt at introducing an imaginary Motif into a painting masterpieces perhaps the first in which he applied this synthetic style in a remarkable way [Music] it's truly a key painting in goga's artistic Evolution it is the famous vision of the sermon today this painting is on display at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh it dates back to 1888 it is one of his great masterpieces one of the best known works from his Brittany period it is the first painting in which he truly developed his own aesthetic language in this painting we can see nearly all the characteristics of syntheticism in the foreground the scene with the Britney peasant woman and in the background this religious scene with a spiritual Dimension depicting the battle between Jacob and the angels the religious scene depicted here is very traditional but he represented it in an entirely new way what is also striking is this very intense luminous red surface it reveals both a liberation of color and an interiorization which is very characteristic of goga's spiritual paintings of this period painting which is also entitled Jacob wrestling with the angel had an enormous influence on Pablo Picasso arimatis and Edward Monk this painting is interesting because of this branch that appears in a very surprising way it separates the secular area from the sacred spiritual area it's a strategy in composition and at the same time this element reveals how Japanese Aesthetics influenced gogon's tree Japanese had a great influence on some of goga's works foreign this painting synthesizes many elements that are Central to goga's art [Music] Paul Goga discovered the masters of Japanese etchings such as Hokusai and hiroshige through his friend Vincent van Gogh the two painters who were very close used them as inspiration as they did indigenous art and medieval stained glass windows at that time Van Gogh was painting his series of elisecall and Olive Groves in Al in the south of France Paul Goga then joined him and they lived together for a few months painting and sharing their vision of painting [Music] the two friends were both very sensitive even psychologically frail they had gone through periods of depression and Goga like Van Gogh later attempted suicide their cohabitation turned sour following an artistic dispute and ended with the infamous episode of Van Gogh's cut ear Vincent who had been threatening Paul with a razor suddenly turned the razor against himself and cut off his ear GA then left Al and returned to Brittany but he always maintained much affection for his friend [Music] in Brittany the appellation of the pontaven school is the name that was given up pastoriori to group together very different artists who went there regularly to paint little by little Paul Gogan became the leader of this group how do you see this tree he wrote green so add the most beautiful green on your palette and this Shadow rather blue so don't be afraid of painting as blue as possible or in other words don't copy nature too closely art is an abstraction that is derived from nature as you imagine it focus more on the creative process than the result the only way to ascend to God Is by doing as our divine Master does by creating with these words Paul Goga expressed his Credo which was at the heart of the artistic criticisms to come [Music] see yellow Haystacks is one of the very Britain themes of the artist it was painted by Goga in 1889 at a time when the painter worked with themes that were dear to the ponteven school that was beginning to development we know that his artist friends especially Emil Bernard treated the same themes at the same time it was a time when golgar developed the principles of cynicism this can be seen in these flattened masses surrounded by darker colors particularly in his first Haystack in the foreground and which the women seem to lose themselves it is interesting to note that this very traditional theme had already been used it was in the foreground of Mia's work in the French naturalist tradition and later invest in lepage's work your gogan's painting stands out he treated it very differently here with a special focus on shapes and absence the human figures become a small element within a landscape in which color and shapes dominate later learned this [Music] in these pastoral scenes the artist focused on simplifying shapes he eliminated details to retain only the essentials [Music] thank you [Music] the major themes depicted by Goga at Ponte ven revolve around working in the fields wash women at the seaside windmills and also many portraits also painted the portraits of many people that he met there like Madeleine Bernard the sister of the painter Emil darnar he moved between primitive paintings with ret on figures and Breton headdresses and portraits but his methods were treated in synthetic and primitive way during his stay in Brittany he made a few trips to Paris to try and sell his paintings but modern civilization was unbearable to him and he once again fled the megalopolis [Music] at this time in 1889 sought to flee Paris he found appeasement and what he called the Wild and the primitive this he found in Brittany first in pond event The Village he had already visited twice a small Fisherman's Village deep in the finished aeration beside the city of compare in this Village he found more peace less artistic tensions with his traveling companions he adapted himself bet to this primitive and Rural Brittany he became interested in the Primitive religious icons that are seen in devout Brittany like these wooden christs which represents a certain idea of the authentic religion in this painting the beautiful angel we feel this importance this influence of popular imagery in Go Girls paintings he wrote the title of the beautiful angel in the painting itself and the lettering is similar to that used in shop signs at the time Angel was the manageres of a cafe in Ponte event [Music] where all the artists would gather we can feel how at the time he sought to delve deeper we can feel something synthetic in this painting innocence desire to combine different elements we see the hanging cross and the Breton headdress in the line with the Breton tradition of this character the headdress is held in a sort of Medallion that evokes the influence of Japanese at the time with Japanese compositions in two Dimensions as well as a flattened style of painting placed nearly side by side on the same plane stands statue who has invented Motif derived from pre-columbian Peruvian motifs an illusion to his own Origins the bit imagery it is one of gogan's first representations of this calling for distant countries and primitive Ceramics what is interesting here is the combination between a portrait and a still life the background is brushed with flowers that are drawn as if they were on wallpaper this creates an even greater contrast and turns the painting into an image rather than a three-dimensional representation presentation [Music] the public sale of his works and the sale of his painting the beautiful angel to Edgar Degas enabled Goga to leave for Tahiti in 1891. he wanted to try something new and to flee the excess of an overly civilized France once again to accomplish this he obtained a grant from the French government in order to study the customs and Landscapes of the country this distant Island discovered a hundred years earlier in 1767 had just become a French colony it had been described by the Explorer Bougainville and later by the Sailor and writer Pia Lotti as the archetypal primitive Eden so gogas settled in Tahiti where he hoped to flee the artifice and conventions of Western Civilization he spent the rest of his life in this tropical region first in Tahiti then in the island of hivaoa in the Marquis Islands he returned to Mainland France only once foreign [Music] in 1891 while on his lifelong quest for a new authenticity for a more original more natural purer world left France for papetti the capital of Tahiti Capital it was the next step in his quest for authenticity which he had not found in Brittany as he had hoped he realized early on that Britney was already too influenced by the capital city therefore the next logical step was to leave France for the Lost Paradise of Polynesia he arrived in Tahiti hoping to find a form of Purity an idol not yet influenced by modern civilization in Tahiti the essential characteristics of Paul gogan's painting did not undergo much change but his primitive style influenced by the tropical environment and Polynesian culture gained strength through the prodigious invasion of color which began to fill his paintings [Music] what is important in this painting is the composition and the colors there's a sort of abstraction it was testing the limits he went to the extreme in the creation of these surfaces of these arabesques of these completely non-naturalist colors would surround these two very carefully modeled characters these are the naturalist elements of this composition his interest in Japanese art is also reflected here the branches and the tree in the upper part are a reference to Hokusai the master of Japanese etchings he created something entirely new extraordinary he wanted to surprise the Parisian public with this type of painting foreign stay subjugated by the culture shock he underwent there Gogan depicted Oceana as Paradise [Music] the first room is devoted to his first day in Polynesia which ended with its departure in 1893. he returned to Paris with a great number of paintings that period was very fertile with many drawings and watercolors he wrote his manuscript Noah Noah during this first Tahitian period it was a period of great contrasts like many of his Works a very conflictual time he had left pairs for Paradise a literary Paradise he had developed a sort of idealized image of the Polynesian Islands this idealized image was strongly influenced by Pierre loti's novel which was a bestseller at the time he drew on many of the cliches about Tahiti cliches that had originated with the discovery of these islands [Music] The first explorers and adventurers who wrote about these islands like the Explorer's Bougainville and cook always describe them as ideal Islands [Music] they gave images of very docile people a pacified world where people have no need for work where you need only to outstretch your hand to pick the fruit hanging from the trees Etc this cliche of a very harmonious world is still perpetuated today [Music] it is one of the reasons for goga's popular success he also perpetuated this idea of Eden on Earth the painter who had not forgotten his mission as an ethnologist for the French government attempted to better understand the functionings of Maori culture thank you Google tried to integrate himself to Tahitian culture he met indigenous people especially indigenous women he also learned the language in this painting we can see an inscription in Polynesian which he integrated into his composition we can see that he made spelling mistakes in this inscription he was learning the language but had not yet mastered it we can see that he was interested in indigenous culture which he tried to integrate and which he did up until a certain point he was in this quest for authenticity and he truly sought to integrate himself into this other culture which was not his own in Tahiti Paul Goga also became fascinated by the indolent charm of the local beauties [Music] art was considerably influenced by Tahitian women of course as was his private life since he lived with different women in Tahiti and later in the Marquis Islands foreign I believe that these women were not simply objects of erotic and sensual Fascination or a means for pleasure there were the link he was looking for between this culture its traditions and himself a character hailing from Paris looking for a guide in this unknown world thank you [Music] in Tahiti he became acquainted with Teja Amana also called tehura a young girl of 13. she became his model and his partner and brought to life the feeling of paradise that he had sensed [Music] in these paintings we can notice how calm and Serene these men and women are as they carry on their ancient culture of Maori civilization here the women of Tahiti is a work from the beginning of his taitian period chewing on the beach not facing each other seemed to Converse in a silent dialogue they are not looking at each other one of them is looking elsewhere this is a certain Melancholy to this painting The Nostalgia of A Lost Civilization the one on the right is in a colonial dress the other young woman is a vahini dress what is interesting is that there are variations of this painting the theme of two women answering each other without speaking is seen in many of gogal's painting from this time there is a nearly identical replica at the Museum of Dresden in Germany in which the two women are not in colonial vahini dress but undressed was very inspired by Tahiti and in the span of a few months he created 70 paintings he wished to sell them since he was on the brink of misery in 1893 he requested repatriation from the director of the fine arts school in Paris and it was repatriated at the expense of the French state [Music] you returned to Paris in 1893 with the plan to leave once again his goal was to organize a great sales Exhibition at the art gallery of John huel he brought his paintings back a great exhibition was held it was not as financially successful as he had hoped Gogan remained in Paris for a few months he moved into a workshops and represented his workspace in a self-portrait it's like a showroom of the art he created the walls are painted yellow and a famous painting of his taitian years representing is seen in the background of this self-portrait lying down is a reflection since the artist was seeing himself in a mirror the painting testifies to the affirmation of his art at that time in Paris Gogan nevertheless obtained an inheritance from his uncle izidor who had just passed away and he left for Brittany with his mistress at the time a half-indian half Malaysian girl known as Anna the Javanese the provocation was too much for Rural France and the local fishermen fought the couple during the fight the painter fractured his leg as misfortunes never come alone the man address of his former in at puldu where he lived refused to return the paintings he had left there prior to his trip to Tahiti plus Anna left him and returned to Paris where she looted his Workshop utterly disheartened Paul go God decided to leave to flee this world in which he did not recognize himself and in 1895 he was back in Tahiti decided pretty quickly to go back to taiti Second departure took place in 1895. he announced departure with the idea of remaining in the islands however it seems that he perhaps hoped to create more paintings to return to Paris once again whatever the case may be gilgan remained in Tahiti he left the Marquis islands where he died in 1903 during his second stay in Tahiti Gogan related much more to the Maori culture he had discovered he became interested in the history of this population he wrote about the ancient Maori cult during that year his paintings reflected the traditional folk tales and local mythology that inspired him [Music] one particular theme is which is the name of a goddess in Maori culture she is considered as the birth mother the first in the Maori line she formed the identity of Maori culture is a young woman to whom the title of goddess was given she is always accompanied by a white bird which is also seen in another painting at an important time in his career [Music] in 1897 Gogan attempts suicide he was not well but he decided as a testament to create a great painting that came to be four meters long and two meters high it is currently held in Boston in the United States the painting is entitled where do we come from what are we doing where are we going in this sort of mythological Fresco we can see elements that are presented in some other paintings by the artist is seen in the same pose in the painting that is held in Boston it is worth noting that all these paintings were United and exhibited together at the Durango Gallery we believe that this painting was done in preparation for the Great Boston canvas it might be a replica but we believe it was perpetuary painting indicated that the painting had to be read from right to left the three main group of characters illustrate the title's questions the three women with a child represent the beginning of Life the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of young adults and in the last group an old lady nearing death appears to accept and resign herself to the idea [Music] in Tahiti Solitude and material hardship did not prevent him from creating some of his most beautiful Works where he transcribed his sensual and mystical view of life with concision and intensity his use of color became even more personalized his ever so particular use of pink his deepening love for Indigo and lemon yellow contrast with a certain sadness if you look attentively echoga's paintings you will see there's a strong Melancholy this Melancholy is due to deception [Music] soon after his arrival in Tahiti he discovered that Tahiti was not so different from European culture and the political and social structures he had left in France they were rich people poor people important people with power exploited people Etc what deeply troubled him too was the realization that the Primitive and archaic world full of Wonders and life with Gods had disappeared quickly realized that the Lost Paradise he had hoped to find in Tahiti no longer existed it had already been destroyed by colonization and Christianity what he painted in many of his Works was a sort of compensation for the disillusion he had suffered when he saw the reality of Tahiti what he had hoped to find in this Lost Paradise he integrated and depicted in his works of art [Music] disillusioned after having traveled so far only to come upon that which he was fleeing other misfortunes plagued Goga the death of his daughter his favorite of five legitimate children hit him hard he also had health problems a leg wound which had not healed since the fight in Brittany in 1894 plus a case of syphilis and a heart attack led him to attempt suicide with arsenic as he slowly got better he decided to leave for the Marquis Islands in order to find life-saving inspiration [Music] in the last years of his life Gogan fight once more in 1901 he decided to leave Tahiti the Marquez islands in the little city of tuna located in the island of he died there in 1903. he built his Hut himself and decorated it he called it the House of Joy and included sculptured motifs in low reliefs that we have presented at the Museum the last moments of his life were a time of pain and isolation he was very sick but until the end he fought for the rights of the indigenous population against the Colonials who lived there it was a period of doubt and he combined Styles in a form of cinecriticism some of his Major Works were created at that time especially and the gold of their bodies which we have at the Museum Keys Islands Gogan quickly became disillusioned when he saw the abuse of the authorities he tried to fight for the indigenous people weakened tired of fighting he died from a heart attack on May 8 1903 in a state of confusion after having taken a strong dose of morphine [Music] self-portrait with the yellow Christ was painted in Paris in 1890-91 a little before his departure for Tahiti the painting is very interesting because it reveals the character's complexity and his contradictions which are at the foundation of his art these are the fundamentals which did not change up until the end of his life is looking directly at The Spectator in the background there are two major elements on the one side the yellow Christ which is a reproduction of a painting that Goga had painted at that time and which is one of the great symbolist paintings of his late Brittany period and on the other side a pottery that represents a sort of grotesque squatting figure these two elements that we see here are the two pulls of goga's personality on one side you have the Christian tradition European culture that is to say the million which he grew up and on the other side you have this archaic character that represents the primitivism of ancient cultures which has nothing to do with European culture Primitives tragedy lies in his desire to distance himself from his tradition and the culture in which he grew up and to make ties with an ancient non-european culture uh open Kia today we know this idea to be fictional the ancient cultures that he dreamed of and that strongly inspired him were for the most part already alienated in his time already deeply upset by colonization and by Christianity nevertheless he always sought a link with non-european cultures our exhibitions Panorama is also built around his different influences which he mixed and combined he was not reticent to immerse himself in Egyptian and Hindu culture or Buddhist Traditions etc [Music] for him these were non-european non-Christian cultures that had the power he was seeking to put forth in his own art the power of conviction of surprise of Wonder were at the core of his artistic process as we can see the character in the center of this painting is in between these two poles an adventurer and a tormented genius Paul Goga sense the future and paved the way for modern painting his experimentations with color and the whole of his work influenced the evolution of painting and notably phavism in the 20th century after his death following the exhibitions that paid homage to his art his influence stretched even to Picasso's blue and pink periods passing through the cubists and the German expressionists today his paintings are among the most expensive on the Art Market though the artist lived his entire life in poverty foreign [Music] foreign thank you thank you [Music] foreign foreign

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 23,670

Keywords: documentary, painting, painter, art, artist, art history, impressionism, greatest painters

Id: GOf6QGBTd3Q

Length: 52min 14sec (3134 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 21 2023