Gauguin
When my wife and I went to Seattle
recently, the Seattle Art Museum was hosting a Gauguin exhibition. Previously I
only knew of his work from art history and the like, which focused on his Polynesian
women paintings, but the exhibit covered a much more impressive span of his
works, from his French paintings to woodcuttings to the Polynesians.
What impressed me was his
versatility as a painter. Some were full of vibrant colors and impressionist
style, capturing the feelings of the seen while giving only the general ideas
of the people and landscape, others were more subdued but very detailed
portraits with more controlled brush strokes and realistic color scenes.
Something I learned from the exhibit
was the Gauguin was, and still is, considered the most skilled woodcut artist
of his time and brought the genre into prominence during his life. On one wall
was a painting of a street scene under the Eiffel Tower. The work was a large
mural, maybe 10 ft by 15 ft (I think on canvas, but I don’t remember just now).
Krista and I commented on how we had a similar photograph, though not as large.
Then we read the name plaque and realized it was a woodcut.
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