Striking impressions
“Where do we come from, What are we, Where are we going,” by French post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin, will be on display at the Seoul Museum of Art, located near Seoul City Hall, from June 14 to September 29. / Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Gauguin exhibition to open Friday at Seoul Museum of Art
By Baek Byung-yeul
A total of 60 works from French post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), including three masterpieces never before seen together, will be on display at the Seoul Museum of Art (SEMA) from Friday.
Hosted by the Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, the exhibition marks the first time Gauguin’s “Where do we come from, What are we, Where are we going,” “The Yellow Christ” and “The Vision of the Sermon,” will be displayed in one place.
The exhibition, titled “Gauguin: Voyage into the Myth and after,” is the first retrospective in Korea focusing on his work from two artistically distinctive periods ― the “Brittany period” (1873-1891), when he started his career as a professional painter; and the “Polynesian (Tahiti) period” (1893-1903), when the artist lived on the southern Pacific island.
“The Yellow Christ” Courtesy of Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Born in Paris in 1848, Gauguin worked as a stockbroker and enjoyed art as a hobby. But when his company went through financial difficulties, he began painting in earnest. He perfected his skills by studying prominent French painters such as Edouard Manet, Eugene Delacroix and Paul Cezanne, while interacting with intellectuals including Stephane Mallarme, Paul Valery, Marcel Proust and Claude Debussy.
During his Brittany period, Gauguin produced some of his masterpieces including “The Vision of the Sermon” (1888) and “The Yellow Christ” (1889).
At the end of the 19th century, Gauguin moved to Tahiti to live a secluded, creative life. He created some of his essential pieces during the period by portraying life on the island.
“Vision of the Sermon” / Courtesy of Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
The four-meter width panoramic painting, “Where do we come from, What are we, Where are we going,” (1897), is Gauguin’s largest work. On loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where it has been displayed for some 50 years, the work is expected to be the highlight of the exhibition.
In all, the 60 works are on loan from seven museums in the United States, 20 museums in Europe, and 30 other museums.
The exhibition also provides an interesting opportunity to reinterpret Gauguin’s works by featuring five renowned contemporary artists ― Marco Brambilla, Rho Jae-oon, Rashaad Newsome, Yang Fudong and Lim Young-sun. Their attempts at “visually interrupting the flow of Gauguin’s pieces,” are embodied as installation works, video art and large-scale portraits.
The exhibition will run through Sept. 29. SEMA is located near exit 1 of City Hall Station, subway line 1. Tickets cost 8,000 won for elementary school students, 10,000 won for middle and high school students and 13,000 won for adults. The venue will be closed every Monday. For more information, call 1588-2618 or visit the official webpage at
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