Gauguin and the Origin of Symbolism

The exhibition focuses on an analysis of the work of Paul Gauguin and the artists of his day with whom he was associated: the older masters who taught or inspired him, such as Pissarro, Cézanne and Degas, his contemporaries, above all Van Gogh, and other artist that show his influence, such as Bonnard, Vuillard and Picasso. The exhibition spans the period from 1884 to 1891. During these years Gauguin evolved from a secondary Impressionist painter into the leader of the Symbolist movement in painting. His efforts to move on from Impressionism led him to question the entire naturalist tradition of European art as it had developed from the Renaissance onwards. One by one he abandoned all the descriptive devices traditionally used in painting (perspective, shadows, chiaroscuro, local tone) in favour of the pure value of line and colour on the picture plane.