Paul Gauguin’s painting, "The Yellow Christ" can be considered an “avant-garde” work of art. There are a few ways how this can be proven. I will use Griselda Pollock’s formula of reference, deference, and difference to prove my point. "Reference in an artwork shows an awareness of what was already going on. Deference is what defers to the latest and most radical developments. Finally, to be considered an avant-garde artist, one must establish a difference in their artworks that is legible in terms of current aesthetics and criticism and a definite advance on the current position. (Challenge of A-G, p 167)
"The Yellow Christ" was painted in 1889 by Paul Gauguin. Some believe that the artist made this painting of Christ on the cross as a self-portrait. This depiction of the male artist as a superior being is a way of showing that he is an independent and courageous artist, and yet, he is still struggling against the public that is not very accepting of the avant-garde art. This has been seen as a work of a modern male artist which critics and other artists have called avant-garde.
"The Yellow Christ" painting is a "reference" to the Impressionist style. We can see how the artist ties in Impressionism in his painting to make it Post-Impressionist though the use of bright colorful figures with thick black outlines and small, thin, brushstrokes. Also, the man running in the background is caught in the act of getting away, which represents the late 19th century desire to "get away" from the city life and get back to the "primitive", and much simpler life that was before. This depicted desire to "get away" is one of the big factors that makes a painting avant-garde.
We can see how "deference" was used in "The Yellow Christ". It defers to the latest and most radical developments, in this case the artist defers to the use of symbolism and abstraction. First of all, the color of the Christ is obviously not natural, it is way too yellow. Also, the trees in the background have a form which is more geometric than it is natural. The people's faces are made with very little detail, and are also not realistic, which ads to the distortion of this whole piece. Even though the artist "derived this abstraction from nature, he dreamed before it and thought of the creation that will result." (Stockstad p.996) Another thing in "The Yellow Christ" that makes it avant-garde is how it represents the simple and primitive life of the peasants instead of the other paintings that depicted urban life and life of the upper class, and still makes it a "modern" art by showing the purity of the peasant style through the devotional poses of the women in the painting.
The "difference" in the painting is the aesthetics of "Synthetic" and Subjective" art, and in this case, it is achieved through the use of "decorative" concept. The artist of the painting either exaggerated, distorted, or simplified the lines, colours, and forms to show a deeper meaning behind the painting. The people's faces are made with very little detail, are elongated, and are not realistic, which adds to the distortion of this whole piece. The form of the trees and the people is not natural and is very simplified. The lines are also very obvious and simplified through out the whole painting.
The Yellow Christ by Gauguin is shockingly colorful for such a dark event. It seems that there is a nice fall afternoon glow over the countryside, as a Christ figure simply dies a crucifixion. I personally find the painting fairly repulsive. I'm fairly sure that this was part of Gauguin's attempt to rile up people over such a hallowed Christian occurrance. Even at the turn of the century, there was a large segment of people I'm sure who found this to be incredibly offensive. Definitely, avant-garde.
ReplyDeleteGauguin also makes this piece modern because of how you said the desire to "get away" from the city life, back to a more primitive lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned this in my post about this painting, but this painting is extremely flat, unlike some Impressionist paintings. Some Impressionists used color and light and their obvious brushstrokes in order to create modeling of natural forms whereas Gauguin doesn't really do that.
I'm sure the fact that he supposedly painted a self-portrait of himself as Christ would have offended many people as well. As you mentioned in your blog, that the simplification, exaggeration, and distortion of the shapes, lines, and forms were supposed to "show a deeper meaning", but what was his true meaning or idea? Obviously, a spiritual aspect with the figure of Christ and the praying women. His simplified shapes add to the feeling and reflect the ideas of a simpler life in the rural environment, or "primitive" place. I think it's odd that he adds himself as Christ. Is he trying to say that he is raised above these 'simple' people, that he is something more pure spiritually and all knowing in comparison to these people? Unfortunately, this complex of superiority, I think, doesn't seem to be uncommon with white, European, males of that time period and their feelings towards 'others'.
ReplyDeletethanks for this article you helped me pass a test
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