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Correspondence
494 pages
An intimate, visually rich immersion into the restless mind and daily struggles of a transgressive artist.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like stepping directly into the restless, passionate mind of a revolutionary artist. The pace is leisurely, inviting you to linger over vivid canvases, delicate watercolors, and the raw intimacy of private letters. The mood shifts between the soaring ambition of a man determined to cultivate a wild and primitive art and the grounding, often anxious reality of his daily life, marked by consuming worries over health and money. It is a deeply confessional experience, contrasting bold public masterpieces with vulnerable correspondence to estranged family and famous contemporaries. This visually rich, introspective journey will delight art lovers and anyone fascinated by the transgressive spirit and personal sacrifices behind the creation of modern art.
- Mood
- introspective
- vivid
- restless
- Tone
- intimate
- confessional
- passionate
- anxious
- Pace
- leisurely
- Themes
- artistic obsession · financial anxiety · the pursuit of the primitive · creative evolution · isolation and exile
- The writing
- A blend of passionate, transgressive declarations and vulnerable, everyday anxieties, accompanied by rich visual materials.
- The arc
- Moves from a determined rejection of European conventions to an intimate, anxious immersion in a new creative and personal reality.
- Who it's for
- Art history enthusiasts and readers fascinated by the raw, unfiltered inner lives and struggles of revolutionary painters.
Content notes
- financial stress
- health anxiety
- estrangement
About the book
""I am leaving to Tahiti where I shall hope to end my days. My art...I regard as no more than a tender shoot, though one that I hope to develop into a wild and primitive growth.... The European Gauguin has ceased to exist and nobody will ever see any of his works here again."" "With these words, Paul Gauguin set off on a voyage that would not only irrevocably change his own life and work, but also the entire course of modern art. This volume combines for the first time the artist's public expressions of his world - his paintings - with his private correspondence - to his estranged wife, his agent, and his illustrious contemporaries such as Strindberg and van Gogh. Gauguin vividly describes his creative movements as well as the details of his daily life, most poignantly his consuming worries about health and finances." "The book is illustrated throughout with many of Gauguin's most ambitious and beautiful canvases. Watercolors and pencil sketches illuminate the early stages of these major works, and illustrated journal pages and rare vintage photographs reveal the people and places he knew." "An invaluable insight into Gauguin's life, this volume is equally important for its determined look at the transgressive spirit of those artists who challenge the conventions of their time to create an art of the future."--BOOK JACKET.
Description from Open Library.
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