Paysage Landscape Paul Gauguin Poster 20X30 Art Print

Landscape...
Paul Gauguin
1901

Description of Original: Oil on Canvas.
H. 76 L. 65 cm
Location: Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

This painting dated 1901 is probably a landscape of the island of Marquesas Hivaoa. It was painted shortly after Gauguin's departure from Tahiti in September 1901 for the Marquesas Islands. In the heart of a lush tropical landscape the tiny figures of a man dressed in black, who appears to be a missionary priest, and three children seem lost in the vegetation. In the background a white house is hidden behind the trees.
The work was formerly titled "The Priest and the children."

In his landscapes, Gauguin exalts above all the beauty of wild nature. The stylized shapes, composition, superimposed planes and the modulation in several shades of green shaded by long trees and prairie in the center of the composition are typical of the landscapes of the last years of Gauguin. However, the larger and softer sky and the entire periphery of the painting casts doubt on the attribution of this landscape to Gauguin. Many of his paintings of the Marquesas have such weaknesses which can be explained
by the failing health of the painter. In addition, scientific studies at the Centre for Research and Restoration of Museums of France showed signs of enlargement of the canvas. The signature is also questioned by experts. It is possible that this painting left unfinished at the artist's death has been completed and signed by another hand.

The vogue for Gauguin's work started soon after his death. Many of his later paintings were acquired by the Russian collector Sergei Shchukin. A substantial part of his collection is displayed in the Pushkin Museum and the Hermitage.

Gauguin paintings are rarely offered for sale; their price may be as high as $39.2 million USD.