Gauguin and the origins of symbolism
By: editor, Guillermo Solana ; [texts], Richard Shiff, Guy Cogeval, María Dolores Jiménez-Blanco.
Contributors: Solana, Guillermo.; Shiff, Richard.; Cogeval, Guy.; Jiménez-Blanco Carrillo de Albornoz, Ma. Dolores; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza.; Fundación Caja de Madrid.
Publisher: Philip Wilson Publishers in association with Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and Fundación Caja de Madrid; Distributed in North America by Palgrave Macmillan]; Philip Wilson Publishers
Published: 2004
Place of publication: [London]; [New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 328
Subjects: Gauguin, Paul, 1848-1903 -- Exhibitions; Gauguin, Paul, 1848-1903 -- Influence -- Exhibitions; Symbolism (Art movement) -- France -- Exhibitions; Art, French -- 19th century -- Exhibitions
Genres: Exhibitions.
Description: "From the mid-1880s until his departure for Tahiti in 1891, Gauguin moved beyond Impressionism to become the leading figure of the Symbolist movement in painting. This departure from Impressionism led him to question the entire 'naturalist' tradition of European art from the Renaissance onwards. He sacrificed all of painting's descriptive devices in favour of line and flat colour. His path towards Symbolism can also be characterised as a 'primitive' quest, developed both in iconography and style. On the iconographic level, this tendency starts from the use of a number of pastoral themes representing scenes of rural life. This spiritual return was accompanied by a stylistic regression, a leap from naturalism towards archaic modes of representation. The volume follows this process through a series of encounters between Gauguin and his masters, his contemporaries and his pupils."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Catalog of an exhibition held at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, and at the Fundación Caja Madrid, Sept. 28, 2004-Jan. 9, 2005.