Contrast between Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin - Essay Example

A study on comparison and contrast between Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin were both stalwart painters in the Post-impressionist period. The Post-impressionist period captures the visual arts that originated in and around France between 1886 and 1914. Even though the beginning of post-impressionist period cannot be pin-pointed, the end of the period coincided with the beginning of the First World War, which led to a clean break in European art. The Post-impressionist artists rued the loss of form and romanticism but kept on using the bright colors of Impressionist period. Many great artists dominated the scene of European art during this time, including Cezanne, van Gogh, Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec and Gauguin. They all have their own distinctive features of art, form, idea, style and media. At the same time, since they were all active at the same time, they were influenced by similar thoughts, cross-currents in European painting styles and by each other. The style the Post-impressionist artists shared may be described by bold design, cursive lines, vibrant patterns and brilliant planes of flat colours. Their style was ideally suited to the graphic nature of the print. The subject matter this generation of artists primarily painted was urban. Gauguin, especially in his later years, digressed from this path when he moved to the Tahitian islands and embraced nature and Tahitian islanders as his chief subjects of painting. However, even in those paintings bold flat colors and brush strokes are used. All artists are shaped by their background and experience in life. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec came from an aristocratic family and was fascinated by theatres and Parisian dance halls. In early teens Henri broke his legs which lead to a deformity in his physical structure. This unfortunate experience controlled his art forms to a great degree. His love of painting equestrian objects reflects his passion for riding, of which, in reality, he was unable to do. When he paints a horse-drawn carriage the thoroughbreds and their vibrant beauty becomes alive on the canvas. Since he would be ridiculed for his physical deformity to a certain degree, he preferred to spend time in company of the eccentric and other depraved human beings, where his deformity would go unnoticed. His outlook of life was pessimistic to a certain degree. He took refuge in alcohol as he would take refuge in human degradation. His paintings would depict life not only in its stark reality, but also his keen observation of human character. Lautrec’s work is characterised by highly individual interpretation of forms. One may even call him a graphic artist. His lines are bold, expressive and restless and bring out the emotional intensity of his subjects. Toulouse-Lautrec was influenced by Degas in the sense that dance-halls and dancers were attractive to both. However, while Degas concentrates on perfecting small details, Luatrec sees life on a much grander scale. He understands that a crowd may assume a complete different personality than the men and women who make it up. Placing anonymous models in the foreground he would sum up the character of his compositions. His most famous paintings include the series on Moulin Rouge and one of its important can-can dancers Jane Avril. Toulouse-Lautrec is also well known for the posters he made to advertise dance or musical performances in cafes and theatres. He would outline his figures but only color the images partially to draw attention. Sometimes he would draw caricatures of famous dancers like Jane Avril to make the posters more attractive. In his posters and lithographs broad flat colors and graphic outlines were influenced by Gauguin’s style. Lautrec died young, at the age of thirty-seven, a pessimist already notorious for his portrayal of human degradations. Gauguin, on the other hand, was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth and started working as a stockbroker. Only later he turned to a full-time artist. He was a friend of Pissaro and had his paintings exhibited along with other impressionist artists but without any financial success. He became disillusioned with impressionist style and moved towards Cloisonnism, characterised by flat areas of bold and unusual colors and outlines. Japanese two-dimensional art form had an important contribution in this phase of Gauguin’s art. One of his most characteristic painting in this phase is The Yellow Christ. Gauguin was also known for using unusual colors for unusual places. His use of bright and bold colrs reflected is emotions and feelings. Sometimes he would paint the sky yellow, mountains red and grass orange. Shown below is a painting known as Landscape at le Pouldu (The Isolated House). However much Japanese art was appreciated in the then Parisian society, Gauguin’s new style was not recognized as a stroke of genius. His personal life went through a series of change at around this time. He left his family and moved to Brittany where he painted Vision after the Sermon. For some time, he also worked with van Gogh but after a while their difference of opinions rose to such a degree that van Gogh cut off a part of his ear. Gauguin left and took a job as a labourer in Panama Canal construction albeit only for two weeks. Finally he sailed for Tahiti and a large number of his most famous paintings were done there. In the silence of tropical nights in Polynesia and far away from the claustrophobic impressionistic arts of France Gauguin found his true style. His closeness with nature and the island residents led him to paint in a primitive style. The flat and bold colors as well as the bold outlines were there, but naturally the subjects of the paintings changed completely. His paintings portrayed Tahitian daily life and Polynesian mythology. Tahiti came as a revelation of spirit to Gauguin. He realized that there were still unexplored areas, in both form and style, where Western art had not reached. His Tahitian stay saw the birth of great paintings like Tahitian Women at the Beach, Woman with Flower, and various landscape scenes. In some of his paintings the Polynesian women are modestly dressed, like the Woman with a Flower, but in many paintings he portrayed women in partial nudity. Another great painting in this phase of Gauguin’s life is Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? In a way this is a strange painting where the flow is from right to left, contrary to standard western writing. The three women with a child in the right bottom corner represent the beginning of life; the middle panel shows the daily existence and adulthood while the left panel shows an old woman with a white bird in the foreground and a mythical god figure in the background. Gauguin believed this oil on canvas was the culmination of his artistic greatness, that he would never be able to create anything better than, or even close to, this work. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin did not have much in common other than their general painting style of Post-Impressionism. Both were influenced by Japanese style which used flat bold colors and bold outlines. While Gauguin, in his attempt to break the bondage of Impressionist, moved first to Brittany and then to Tahiti, Henri lived right in the heart of Paris and Montmartre and drank up the nightlife to the brim. Physical deformity and ensuing caustic attitude to life impacted many of Toulouse-Lautrec’s paintings. Gauguin was more attracted to the open and uninhibited lifestyle that he could follow in Tahiti and that made him come closer to nature, even though many of his paintings portrayed a life of Polynesia which was not faithful to reality. In personal life both artists were unhappy. Gauguin suffered from bouts of depression and Toulouse-Lautrec was addicted to alcohol. Nonetheless both of them were great artists of Post-Impressionist period and path-breakers in their own way. References Frey, Julia. Toulouse-Lautrec: A Life. New York: Viking, 1994. Heller, Reinhold. Toulouse-Lautrec: The Soul of Montmartre. New York: Prestel, 1997. Becker, Christoph. Paul Gauguin: A Journey to Tahiti. London: Prestel, 2001. Cachin, François. Gauguin: The Quest for Paradise. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1992. Read More