Book Description

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) came late to painting, after two previous careers, first as a seaman, then as a stockbrocker. A romantic, a primitive, a symbolist, a born rebel and flamboyant personality, he stands at the crossroads of modern painting, summing up in his life's work the crucial transition from Impressionism to abstraction. He had no art school training. What we did have was an idea and a dream. His genius is usually considered in terms of his painting. This book offers the rare treat of a selection of watercolors, gouaches, pastels, pen-and-ink and charcoal drawings, monotypes, zincograph and woodcuts, together with pages from "Noa Noa", Gauguin's illustrated account of his stay in Tahiti. In many ways these works are more revealing than his paintings, as they allowed the artist a spontaneity and intimacy that painting, by the very nature of his technique, could not. -- From publisher's description.