The National Gallery of Australia’s exhibition Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao acknowledges the French master’s misdeeds in the Pacific – but just as easily omits or distracts from them
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What to do with a problem like Paul Gauguin? The 19th-century French master’s radical experimentations with colour, space and syncretic symbolism have made him a canonical artist. Yet it is “Gauguin the monster” – not “Gauguin the artist” – who takes up the most oxygen in discussions today. It is Gauguin – purveyor of primitivist fantasies, emblem of French colonialism in the Pacific, and paedophilic, syphilitic sex tourist who took child brides as young as 13 – who looms large in the public consciousness.
The National Gallery of Australia has clearly grappled with this legacy in the lead-up to its winter blockbuster, titled Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao. This is the first major exhibition of Gauguin in Australia, with more than 130 works by the artist being pulled from collections from around the world.
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/jul/02/gauguin-world-tona-iho-tona-ao-national-gallery-of-australia-exhibition
Author : Tai Mitsuji
Publish date : 2024-07-01 23:09:47
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