Paul Gauguin Art Prints.

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Paul Gauguin was born in Paris on June 7, 1848 to a loving mother and journalist father.  Yet, in 1849, the political activities of his father forced the family into exile, and so because of relational ties on Gauguin’s mothers’ side they decided to move to Peru.  However, the journey by sea proved too much for the patriarch of the family, and thus Gauguin’s father passed away during their crossing to Peru.  Thankfully, when the remaining family arrived, his mother had family to greet them.  Thus she and her two children moved in with her great grand uncle with his family in Lima.

After passing a happy childhood in Lima, Paul Gauguin joined the French Merchant Navy at the age of seventeen.  While in the Navy he traveled the world for six years, but he returned home due to the death of his mother in 1867.  At that time, he decided to settle down with his wealthy guardian, Gustave Arosa, who happened to be an avid collector of art.  His large selection included many works by Delacroix; during this period, the artistic interests of Gauguin were beginning to be shaped.  It was also at this time that he began to collect impressionist paintings and started on the road to becoming an amateur painter himself.

Moving back to France in 1872, he embarked on a career as a stockbroker, and pursued painting in his spare time.  Due to his fortunate location in Paris Gauguin was able to attend the first exhibition of the impressionists in 1874, where he bought works by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and others.  So, when the bank that he worked for went under, Gauguin happily made the transition to a full time painter in the year 1883.

In the first part of his career impressionism and the French impressionists, especially Pissarro, heavily influenced him, and in 1884 when he moved to Port Aven to paint, he established even more connections and relationships to impressionism.  There, in the artist’s haven, he met and was inspired by Van Gogh, Seurat and Degas.  Soon, he began to adopt his own unique and independent style.  His approach would come to be greatly influenced by the time that he spent in Panama, but perhaps most importantly, his experiences in Tahiti were the catalysts that truly defined his personal style. Despite several trips to France, notably during one visit to Arles to visit with Van Gogh (this visit was cut short due to an ‘ear incident’) Gauguin lived out the rest of his life in Tahiti.  Staying in the capital, he quickly relocated to a more remote part of the island.  From 1891 to 1904, with only a short period away from the South Pacific Paul, Gauguin lived and finally died in Tahiti.  He passed away on Hiva Oa Island in the Marquesas, due to a drug related heart attack.   

His greatest works are considered those done of the Polynesian women and lifestyle that dominated his paintings toward the twilight of his life; Women of Tahiti, When are you Getting Married, and The Market are all excellent examples.  His use of bright colors and local scenes show that Paul Gauguin’s artwork is inextricably tied to the tenants of impressionism.

Margaret McGuire, 2004