Behind a look, a soul is hidden

Portrait of the artist with a yellow Christ - Paul Gaugin

The museum

Curators

Cancellieri Lucia, Giannini Giulia, Amadori Arianna

Description of the museum

Our museum is about portraits. The path, located in a room, reminds of the atmosphere of Paris, the most famous French city. The works are arranged in chronological order, starting from the most ancient one to the most recent one. In addition, they are grouped according to the author. Picasso’s works and Gauguin’s works are put close one to the other. As regards the remaining works, they are arranged chronologically. Your eyes will be happy and surprised to see the following works: “Nude woman with Turkish bonnet” by Picasso painted in 1955, “Woman sitting with green dress” by Picasso (1961), “Portrait of the artist with the yellow Christ” by Gauguin painted in 1889/1990, “Woman with mango” also painted by Gauguin in 1892, than “Portrait of Dédie” by Modigliani painted in 1918 and finally “Beatrice reflected in the water” by Barcelò painted in the early 21st century.

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST WITH THE YELLOW CHRIST

AUTHOR= Paul Gauguin

TITLE= Portrait of the artist with yellow Christ

DATE= 1889-1890

MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE= Oil on canvas

This portrait is painted by Paul Gauguin between 1889 and 1890 in a sad and difficult time for the author, because he is forced to leave for Tahiti because he loses his job and his wife abandons him. In the foreground you can see the author with a decisive and serious glance, while in the background you can see two paintings by himself. In the top left-hand corner there is a Yellow Christ. It represents the image of the utmost suffering. You can see as the arm stretched above the head of the painter remembers a protective gesture, an embrace in response to the suffering of the artist. The predominant colour is yellow used for the body of Christ and for the corn surrounding the crucifix and it reminds the countryside. Instead, in the top right-hand corner the predominant colour is red. Red characterizes also the second painting by Gauguin, “Vase-portrait in the form of grotesque head”. This object refers to his spirituality, his materialism and his knowledge of African masks.