To say Paul Gauguin was a talented artist may seem obvious, but to realize the full extent of his body of work is not quite as apparent.
Not only was he a prolific painter, he was a thinker and a sculptor. He was a ceramist and a printmaker, a woodcarver – even a writer. He did it all.
Over time, he and other post-impressionist artists developed the synthetism style of painting to distinguish their work from impressionism. Later in life, Gauguin moved to Tahiti, and is known for his woodcarvings and colorful paintings depicting French Polynesian people and landscapes.
To highlight and study Gauguin’s varied works, the Saint Louis Art Museum will present “Paul Gauguin: The Art of Invention,” curated by Simon Kelly, Ph.D., curator of modern and contemporary art, and head of the museum’s department of the same name, along with research assistant, Abigail Yoder.
Kelly has been with SLAM for nine years, and during that time, has demonstrated his interest in French artists and impressionists through shows like last year’s “Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade,” and “Impressionist France,” which he co-curated in 2014. He has written extensively on 19th- and early 20th-century French art and artists.
Kelly said 20th-century artists like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, among others, looked up to and admired Gauguin’s work.
“He was one of the first artists to paint in the abstract,” Kelly said. “If you look at the narrative of modern art, he was a significant artist.
“He was always questioning academic art, and his 3D work was a window to the world,” he added.
The exhibit explores six themes of the French artist’s work. It includes 55 core pieces borrowed from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, with masterworks like the paintings “Woman Sewing” and “Tahitian Woman with a Flower,” believed to be one of the first pictures Gauguin painted on the island, as well as sculptural works that reveal his skill as a ceramicist and wood carver.
“Much of Gauguin’s work is in Denmark, because his wife was Danish,” Kelly said. “The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen has one of the most impressive collections of his art.”
In all, 90 objects will be on display, with about 35 of them from the Saint Louis Art Museum’s collection, including prints by Gauguin, as well as Polynesian sculptures and Peruvian ceramics similar to those that inspired the artist.
Kelly said the six themes emphasize that Gauguin was very inventive in the application of his art. Each theme expresses Gauguin’s stylistic shifts and extensive range of materials, and allows the spectator to discover his travels, along with his work.
The first two sections highlight Gauguin’s often overlooked impressionist paintings, and showcase the works from his travels between Paris, regional French towns and Denmark.
The third section follows him to Martinique and Brittany, and includes polychrome woodcarvings, hand-modeled ceramics and abstract paintings. These help to examine Gauguin’s interest in the idea of “primitivism” as an alternative to the modern world.
“There are only about 60 known Gauguin ceramics, and this exhibit will display 15 of them,” Kelly said. “These are hand-modeled ceramics, almost like sculptures. He didn’t use a wheel.”
The fourth and fifth sections focus on Gauguin’s voyages to Polynesia, and illustrate his mature painting style, emphasizing color, simplified forms and decorative patterns. These sections also bring focus to the kinds of local Polynesian art that inspired Gauguin, including Marquesan and Maori sculpture and Samoan tapa cloth.
The final section reveals Gauguin’s fascination with comparative religion, and includes the manuscript, “Modern Thought and Catholicism,” which was donated to the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1948 by former St. Louisan Vincent Price.
“The manuscript is very important. It’s a culmination of Gauguin’s thinking,” Kelly said. “And this exhibition is a good way to highlight it and its importance.”
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts and Christie’s.
“Paul Gauguin: The Art of Invention” will run July 21 through Sept. 15. Cost for the exhibit is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, and $6 for children (6 to 12). Museum members get in free. Tickets are available at metrotix.com and at the museum. For more information, visit slam.org.
