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GAUGUIN, (Eugène-Henri-) Paul/ ARTISTS 1650-1899/ ART MAIN

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(b. June 7, 1848, Paris, d. May 8, 1903, Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia)

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Gauguin's art has all the appearance of a flight from civilisation, of a search for new ways of life, more primitive, more real and more sincere. His break away from a solid middle-class world, abandoning family, children and job, his refusal to accept easy glory and easy gain are the best-known aspects of Gauguin's fascinating life and personality.  During his first stay in Tahiti (he left in 1893, only to return in 1895 and remain until his death), Gauguin discovered primitive art, with its flat forms and the violent colours belonging to an untamed nature. 

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Two Tahitian Women with Mangos Woman with a Mango  
In Femme au Mango (Woman with a Mango), Gauguin successfully interacts with his subject as a flesh and blood human being rather than a type, or the incarnation of his philosophy. Beyond the woman's face is a ground of yellow that moves joyously from gold to lemon as it sweeps above and around her head. And some of that yellow infuses her beautiful face, making her look illuminated from within with a golden glow that interrupts the Gauguinesque surface of flat paint.  

Stuart Jeffries