Colourful prophet
GAUGUIN Tate Modern Until 16 January 2011
Gauguin is a major figure in the development of modern art — a pioneer in the move away from naturalism; a brilliant colourist; and a prominent example of the driven, self-absorbed avant-gardist, who sacrificed himself and others in pursuit of his self-appointed role as a prophet.
In 19th- and 20th-century art, it is not always easy to know when the details of the artist’s life should be treated as part of the meaning of the work, and when they should be disentangled. Does van Gogh express anything beyond his own neurotic personality? Do we read back Rothko’s suicide into this colour-field painting?
Disagreeable / impressive
In this exhibition the curators are specifically tying the meaning of many of Gauguin’s works into his own self-identity as an avant-gardist, leading the reaction away from the prevailing materialism and positivism of his day, and using art to reveal the non-material aspects of human life and experience. This is a tricky path, because especially his beautiful paintings of unclothed Tahitian women remind you that he was also a feckless abandoner of wife and children, and a Western sexual predator seeking a self-centred, easy life in an imagined tropical paradise. His works remind me of the dilemma raised in Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus: how can such a disagreeable specimen of humanity create such beauty?
