From Rogue to Innovator
Paul Gauguin: Paris, 1889

In the art world, context is king. All artists are effected by what came before them, as well as their personal circumstances; social, political, religious environments; what artists around them are doing; etc. What makes them and their work so intriguing is that this coming together of people, places and times is not repeatable, and the works that emerge from this confluence can be an extraordinary window into their reaction to that unique moment in time. The Cleveland Museum of Art presents the works of Paul Gauguin in their context. This major international exhibit encapsulates a brief period (1889-1903) in the life and artistic works of Paul Gauguin.

To illustrate the point, the exhibit begins with a display of incremental photos of the Eiffel Tower being built for the Paris Exposition of 1889. You can see it rising frame by frame from the Paris landscape. Unlike the other classically designed buildings around it, with their stone facades and decorative flourishes, this bare-boned, steel girdered skewer of a structure breaks through the classical skyline of Paris with a startling departure from its architectural context.

The next room in the exhibit shows us what is considered to be great paintings in Paris in 1889. A select few large-scale works demonstrate the point. One is like a novel on canvas, its symbolism is obvious, you can read it like a book. The figures are centered, the expressions on the faces of painting's subjects are evident.

It is with this backdrop that Gauguin and his cohorts have arranged a radical display of their paintings in a cafe that is right on the grounds of the Paris exhibition. Cleveland Museum of Art has recreated the mood of this cafe, with its red-striped wall paper, chair rails and cafe tables and chairs. They have hung those same works on these walls. Gauguin's painting that is most note worthy in this room is called In the Waves [pictured]. In contrast to what is considered to be exceptional art, this canvas poses more questions than it answers. The subject has her back to the viewer, she is almost disturbingly cropped, so that her elbow is cut off the canvas. Her flesh tone too cool for comfort, her neck painfully bent back as she approaches a crest of the wave. The art in this room is a groundswell of change to the calm surface of the art world at the time, its ripple effect still being felt.

Immersing yourself in the rest of the display you too come away with more questions than answers. The symbolism in Gauguin's works is less obvious. He repeats certain themes over and over again but never relinquishes their meaning. The themes he rehashed in paintings, prints, woodcarvings and ceramics include bathers, a mourning woman who is often near a tree with a snake in it which calls to mind Eve in the Garden of Eden, laundresses, and tropical settings. Leaving behind the Classical perspective and subtle color models in the art of his time, these themes are explored in a more primitive manner, consistent with the symbolism of the African and Asian art Gauguin admired.

His quest to escape everything that is artificial and conventional took a literal path. Gauguin left his wife and five children in Denmark to pursue his art in Paris, then to the island of Martinique, Panama, and eventually to Tahiti, where he created his most colorful works, for which he most well known. We probably remember these works because they break through the landscape of painting in the last decade of the nineteenth century. The show ends with a few of these vibrant gems. Leaving what he considered to be the civilized world to explore a more basic way of life in the South Pacific, Gauguin experienced a flood of freedom.

You can witness the works of his transformation from Paris art rogue to Tahitian innovator at the Cleveland Museum of Art until Mon 1/18/10. http://www.ClevelandArt.org

Carol Drummond has been a professional designer for 25 years. Prior to starting her award-winning graphic design studio 15 years ago, Drummond Design, she graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, worked at a graphic design studio, a video production company, and a consumer products company. She has been an art docent for Mayfield City Schools and currently serves on the COSE Arts Network Advisory Committee. http://www.DrummonDesign.com