Vienna Art Forum

Paul Gauguin: “Bad Boy” of Classical Modernism

Paul Gauguin, "The Seed of the Areoi", 1892 Oil on jute 92.1 x 72.1 cm

(Bild: © 2023. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence)

"Gauguin - unexpected": Kunstforum Wien is showing a major retrospective of the work of the father of modernism for the first time in 60 years. The show, curated by Evelyn Benesch, can be seen at the exhibition venue on Vienna's Freyung until January 19, 2025!

He called himself a "wild animal", was quick-tempered, had relationships with - who knows how many - girls around 13 or 14, for whom he abandoned his Danish wife and children:

Paul Gauguin (1848 to 1903) is considered one of the fathers of classical modernism, along with the stars of the early 20th century Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh - with whom he had a contentious friendship because Vincent's brother Theo was Gauguin's art dealer. Today, however, we like to scandalize Gauguin.

"Gauguin, a bad boy?" asks director Ingried Brugger. "We're talking about the abuse of minors, disgusting exoticism and colonialism. That's terrible! But we judge it all from today's perspective. In the French colonies in Tahiti or the Marquesas around 1900, it wasn't against the law."

Paul Gauguin, "Still Life with Flowers and Idol", around 1892 Oil on canvas 40.5 x 32 cm

(Bild: © Kunsthaus Zürich Geschenk Walter Haefner, 1995)

Paul Gauguin, "Tahitian Women Bathing", 1892 Oil on paper, mounted on canvas 109.9 x 89.5 cm

(Bild: bpk | The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Paul Gauguin, "Interior with Aline", 1881 Oil on canvas 75.7 x 86.9 cm

(Bild: © Sheffield Museums Trust/Foto: Rheinisches Bildarchiv, Marc Weber)

"Gauguin - unexpected" is the title of curator Evelyn Benesch's spectacular show, which she is presenting at the Kunstforum for the first time since the exhibition at the Belvedere anno 60. "We want to do justice to Gauguin and the discrepancy between his life, his sexuality and the fairytale paintings. And it's about the lesser-known Gauguin, who developed his style as a "Synthetist" and a new pictorial quality in Brittany, in the artists' colony of Pont-d'Aven, starting from late Impressionism via Symbolism."

Paul Gauguin, "Woman in front of a still life by Cézanne", 1890 Oil on canvas 65.3 x 54.9 cm

(Bild: bpk / The Art Institute of Chicago / Art Resource, NY / Elyse Allen)

Paul Gauguin, "Hay Sheaves in Brittany", 1890 Oil on canvas 74.3 x 93.6 cm

(Bild: © National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Important are no longer "excerpts from nature, but depictions of moods, archetypes and feelings." The Kunstforum presents 80 captivating objects from 1875 onwards, as well as his "unexpected" Tahitian sculptures, prints such as the Albertina's Volpini cycle and his book illustrations for "Noa Noa". 

"Gaugin - unexpected": Kunstforum Wien, 1010, Freyung; October 3 to January 19, 2025. info: kunstforumwien.at