The Yellow Christ

The Yellow Christ ( French : Le Christ jaune) is a painting by Paul Gauguin from 1889. Along with The Green Christ it is considered one of the highlights of the Symbolism . Since 1946 makes the work part of the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo .

Content

 * 1 Presentation
 * 2 Origin
 * 3 Images
 * 4 Literature
 * 5 External links

Presentation
From 1886 Gauguin regularly in the region of Brittany Pont-Aven down to paint. After his famous visit to Vincent van Gogh in 1888, he would spend much of the following year in Pont-Aven, interrupted by a brief visit to the World Exhibition in Paris, where he also works exhibited during the dramatic expired exhibition at Volpini . [1] Shortly after his return to Brittany he painted The Yellow Christ. Gauguin had a yellow crucifix from the seventeenth century in the chapel of Trémalo discovered outside Pont-Aven. This work of an anonymous artist was a source of inspiration for Gauguin, who was particularly interested in simple folk.

In the painting, three women seen in costume, praying to a crucifix that appears in a vision to them. The yellow color of Christ connects him to the autumn landscape in the background. This link also has a symbolic meaning, with the fall represents the crucifixion, followed by the death of Christ (winter) and resurrection (spring).

The Yellow Christ is regarded as the classic example of the cloisonism, a post-impressionist movement that made ​​extensive use of bright color boxes surrounded by dark contours. Often, apart from a proper perspective or chiaroscuro . The painting will make a very flat impression and shadows come only at the three women. Gauguin's strong interest in color and yellow in particular, even a preparatory sketch was drawn on yellow paper, was fueled further by his collaboration with Van Gogh.

Later in 1889 resurfaced The Yellow Christ again in the work of Gauguin, as a painting within a painting. A self-portrait is in fact to see a part of The Yellow Christ(mirrored). It also includes some similarity between the face of Jesus and the artist. Gauguin, who was exposed to a lot of criticism, seems to want to draw a parallel between the suffering of Jesus and of the artist.

Origin [ edit ]
The Yellow Christ was successively owned by Gauguin's friend Émile Schuffenecker, the painter Gustave Fayet and the art dealer Paul Rosenberg. Although the painting for the invasion of Nazi Germany for safety to Bordeaux was introduced, it was in 1941 still in the hands of the occupier. After the war plunged the canvas in Paris, where Rosenberg received back in 1945. A year later he sold it to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.