|
''Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake'', also known as ''Self-Portrait'', is an 1889 oil on wood painting by French artist Paul Gauguin representing his late Brittany period in Le Pouldu. No longer comfortable with Pont-Aven, Gauguin moved on to a fishing village with his friend and student Meijer de Haan and a small group of artists in the northwest of France where he briefly stayed for several months in the autumn of 1889 and the summer of 1890. The group spent their time in Le Pouldu decorating the interior of Marie Henry's inn with every major type of art work. Gauguin painted his ''Self-Portrait'' in the dining room with its companion piece, ''Portrait of Jacob Meyer de Haan'' (1889). The painting shows Gauguin against a red background with a halo above his head and apples hanging beside him as he holds a snake in his hand while plants or flowers appear in the foreground. The religious symbolism and the stylistic influence of Japanese wood-block prints and cloisonnism are apparent. The portrait was completed several years before Gauguin visited Tahiti and is one of more than 40 self-portraits he completed during his lifetime.〔"Altogether, he made more than 40 self-portraits." See "(Two Faces of Paul Gauguin )". National Gallery of Art.〕 The work reached the art market in 1919 when Marie Henry sold it at the Galerie Barbazanges in Paris as part of her collected works from the Le Pouldu period. Gauguin's ''Self-Portrait'' is exhibited in the Chester Dale Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. ==Background== Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist and figure in the Symbolist movement known for his contributions to the Synthetist style. In 1886, he spent the summer in Pont-Aven in Brittany, an artists colony that became known as the Pont-Aven School for Gauguin's influence and the work they produced. In late 1888, Gauguin painted for nine weeks with Vincent van Gogh at his Yellow House in Arles in the south of France before van Gogh had a breakdown, leading him to cut off his ear and his subsequent hospitalization. Gauguin left Arles and never saw van Gogh again, but they continued to exchange letters and ideas.〔〔 He briefly returned to Paris where he lived with painter Émile Schuffenecker, but returned to Pont-Aven in the spring of 1889 only to find it too crowded. Gauguin moved farther away "to escape the tourists and the Parisian and foreign painters"〔Kearns, James (1989). ''Symbolist Landscapes: The Place of Painting in the Poetry and Criticism of Mallarmé and His Circle''. London: Modern Humanities Research Association. p. 9. . ISBN 978-0-947623-23-4.〕 and arrived at Le Pouldu on October 2, 1889. He found lodgings with Meijer de Haan at Buvette de la Plage, an inn run by Marie Henry. De Haan introduced Gauguin to Thomas Carlyle's novel ''Sartor Resartus'' (1836) by way of conversation. Although he would not read the novel for several more years, Gauguin became acquainted with Carlyle's ideas which would influence his approach to art during this time.〔Gamboni, Dario (2015). ''Paul Gauguin: The Mysterious Centre of Thought''. Reaktion Books. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-78023-368-0.〕 The interior of Marie Henry's inn became their canvas, and they painted their work on the walls, ceilings, and windows.〔Welsh, Robert (2001) "Gauguin and the Inn of Marie Henry at Pouldu". In Eric M. Zafran (Ed.) ''Gauguin's Nirvana: Painters at Le Pouldu 1889–90''. pp. 61–80. Yale University Press. . ISBN 978-0-300-08954-7.〕〔Pickvance, Ronald (1986). ''Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy and Auvers''. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-0-87099-477-7〕 They were later joined by artists Paul Sérusier and Charles Filiger. According to Nora M. Heimann, when the room was completed, it "encompassed paintings of every major type—genre, landscape, self-portraiture, portraiture, still life, and even history painting—in media ranging from tempera and oil on plaster to oil on canvas and panel; as well as prints and drawings; painted and glazed ceramic vessels; exotic found objects; and carved, polychromed figures in wood."〔 Gauguin tried to win the affection of Marie Henry, the inkeeper, but she spurned his advances and became intimate with de Haan instead, leaving Gauguin jealous.〔Kole, William J. (January 26, 2001). "(Exhibition examines 'the odd couple' of Post-Impressionism )." ''Bangor Daily News'', p. D3.〕 Gauguin departed on November 7, 1890, leaving his work at Marie Henry's inn.〔Gauguin sued to get his work back from Marie Henry but lost the case. See Welsh-Ovcharov, Bogomila (2001). "Paul Gauguin's Third Visit to Brittany – June 1889 – November 1890". p. 28 in Eric M. Zafran (Ed.) ''Gauguin's Nirvana: Painters at Le Pouldu 1889–90''.〕 She retired in 1893 and moved to Kerfany, taking many of the art works with her. She continued to lease the inn until 1911 when she sold it. When the new owner was redecorating the inn in 1924, which by then had been converted into a restaurant, the rest of the murals were discovered buried intact under wallpaper.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|