Paul Gauguin was a Post-Impressionist French artist renown for his works of Tahiti. Paul Gauguin was born in Paris, France in the year 1848. His father was a journalist and his mother a socialist leader whose family came from Peru.
Gauguin worked in many mediums including ceramics, sculpting, etching, and woodcuts. Gauguin was also among the first painters to use pure color in their work.
When the artist was two the family decided to move back to Peru for political reasons. During the trip back to Peru his father passed away. The family would settle in Lima, Peru.
Below a montage of works by Paul Gauguin:
Gauguin’s mother began to collect Inca pots that most local collectors dismissed as too barbaric for their tastes. It was here that Gauguin had his first experiences with the art world.
The family would return to France when the artist was seven years old.
The artist served in French navy. His mother died when he was was in his early twenties. Gauguin was able to find employment as a stockbroker. He found a great job with the help of his mother’s boyfriend. At his peak he was earning more than $100,000 from being an art dealer and more than $100,000 (in today’s money in U.S. dollars) from being a stockbroker.
Price range information: Prints can be found from $5,000 to $80,000. Watercolors range from $20,000 to $100,000. Recently a piece by Gauguin made a new record for a sale at auction. In this clip we view this work:
Paul Gauguin passed away in 1903 at the age of 54 years of age.
Its too bad the art world didn’t fully appreciate the talents of Paul Gauguin until after long after he died. Very similar Vincent Van Gogh in this regard. Gauguin was too modern for most people when it came to his color and compositions. Now that the art world is more global in nature, his work is finally being valued at record prices!
Among all the wonderful aspects of Gauguin’s work its his use of color that fascinates me the most.
D
Diattaart Blog 