From Publishers Weekly
Gauguin's flight to Tahiti was more than a dreamer's quest for paradise; his life was a continual search for a simpler, cheaper place to live and work. This superb, levelheaded study by the chief curator of the Orangerie in Paris challenges many popular notions about this elusive artist. Hoog notes that Gauguin's move to Brittany, though a prelude to Oceania, was in no way revolutionary. He explores the feelings of rivalry between the painter and van Gogh, as these two unyielding personalities tackled similar themes. In tracing the chief influences on Gauguin, Hoog is enlightening without being pedantic. He argues that the renegade artist mapped his tropical eden with help from Raphael, Poussin, Delacroix and Giotto, who taught him a sense of antique beauty and a feeling for handling codified symbolism. The first-rate illustrations from every phase of his career are themselves a revelation.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Adding importantly to the literature on this ever-intriguing artist, Hoog concentrates on Gauguin's relationships with other artists, his artistic development, and his artistic and literary sources. He reveals Gauguin as an intelligent, literate man who took his art seriously and approached his work with much study, thought, and theorynot at all the intuitive "savage" of popular myth. Hoog incorporates recent scholarship into his critical evaluations of the paintings. His analysis of Gauguin's influence on younger artists helps round out this fine study. Superior to Yann Le Pichon's Gauguin ( LJ 8/87), this should be considered for all art collections. Lynell A. Morr, John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art Lib., Sarasota, Fla.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
