'Gauguin Portraits' at the National Gallery

The big new exhibition at the National Gallery is of Gauguin's portraits. He did portraits throughout his life so there are lots to choose from. He did self-portraits, portraits of friends and associates, commissions, and, when he was in Polynesia, lots of paintings of local islanders and it's these that are more controversial. Some I liked, some I didn't and some I was ambivalent about. He's not an artist I particularly like or admire but he has his place in art history and it's important to respect that.

Gaugin wasn't a terribly attractive figure, not particularly handsome or charming, his colour palette is a bit dull, he decided to become an artist and promptly left his wife and children to start living the life of an artist, used his position as a 'superior' white an to have lots of sex with underage Polynesian girls, did whatever he wanted and blamed the world for not welcoming him as a genius. No, not a  terribly nice man. But he did take art to a different place. And he painted portraits, lots of portraits.

I wasn't very keen on any of his self portraits. He looks arrogant and unpleasant, painting himself with a crucified Christ in the background is a bit of an oddity, his trademark moustache and staring eyes not really welcoming you into his world. Did he mean to do this, to present this image above all others? Paint his superiority to other men who didn't have the insights into life that he had and didn't have his skills? I don't know, but I suspect he did want to give that image, Gauguin as a leader of men except he didn't lead and wasn't particularly followed in his life time.

One of the portraits that I did like was 'Portrait of an Old Man' which is exactly what it states in the title. An old man, white hair and grey beard, neckerchief and walking stick all painted in muted creams and browns. The man looks old and looks frail, squashed into too small of a portrait, again suggesting age and forced compliance.

A simpler frame would probably help in looking at this painting. Too many of the paintings had inappropriate frames, ornate and florid whereas more basic frames would've shown off the paintings to better effect. I suspect there's an element of the current owners of the paintings wanting to show them off as great paintings rather than as appropriate paintings.

One painting I really did like was in a room dedicated to 'symbolic' paintings in which objects represent the sitters. I liked this painting for Vincent van Gogh painted ten years after his death. The painting includes two of Gauguin's favourite prints that he took everywhere with him - demonstrating love - and a bowl of sunflowers to represent his former friend. The frame overshadows the painting a bit but it's still a lovely work, quite delicate and carefully done.

The last few rooms are given over to Gauguin's paintings from his final stay in Polynesia, and the colours start appearing. This is also a rather dodgy period when he appears to have used his status as a French citizen to have sex with the locals and marry a 13 year old local girl. There are certainly improprieties going on here and the booklet about the paintings explain this and attempt to put them in context. This is a portrait of his wife.

The exhibition includes his last self-portrait, which you're not allowed to take a photo of, which he gave to his carer at the time. This is the only self-portrait - to my eyes, at least - that makes him look like a sympathetic and warm human being.

I can't say that I liked this exhibition but I can say that I saw more paintings by Gauguin than I've previously seen in my whole life. As usual these days, the National Gallery has a strange idea of what sort of merch to include in the exhibition shop and doesn't sell individual postcards, just books of cards. O well, at least I've seen the exhibition.