Review
"This very scholarly and well-researched book traces Gauguin's development as an artist...Reproductions are detailed and beautiful." Choice
"[The authors] draw on the results of scientific study of Gauguin's canvases to show how the use of unorthodox techniques and materials can be linked with the 1primitivism' of earlier European and non-European arts, particularly with the bold painting of early Renaissance frescoes....Rich in ideas and methods that that should reinvigorate the study of late-nineteenth century art..." New York Review of Books
Book Description
Technique and Meaning in the Paintings of Paul Gauguin provides a new interpretation of Gauguin's art. Reconstructing the artist's changing painting techniques, Jirat-Wasiutynski and Newton demonstrate that Gauguin's technical choices were meaningful. Beginning in 1886, Gauguin produced monumental figure paintings using full-scale cartoons to prepare them in a manner similar to that of the Quattrocento fresco painters. In the following years, brushwork and impasto disappeared from his paintings, producing works that contemporaries described as "primitive" and "decorative." Indeed, the authors argue, Gauguin's abandonment of oil painting was deliberate and signaled a rejection of modern Western culture and society.
Technique and Meaning in the Paintings of Paul Gauguin FROM THE PUBLISHER
Technique and Meaning in the Paintings of Paul Gauguin reinterprets Gauguin's art by reconstructing his painting techniques and their meaning for contemporaries. Using Gauguin as a case study, V. Jirat-Wasiutynski and H. Travers Newton Jr. show that technique provides historical evidence of aesthetic and cultural meaning. Gauguin began as a self-taught amateur in 1873 and, from 1879 to 1885, his techniques were closely modeled on Impressionism. Beginning in 1886, however, Gauguin reevaluated traditional procedures and, like a Renaissance fresco painter, used full-scale cartoons to prepare his monumental figure paintings. In the following years, the delicately textured, matte surfaces and areas of opaque high-key color in his oil paintings deliberately evoked older non-oil media such as tempera and fresco. Contemporary critics responded by calling Gauguin's work "primitive" and "decorative.".
Art & Photography
Book Info
