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Gauguin: The Other World
Gauuguin: The Other World captures the astonishing life of a man who was by turns a globetrotting sailor, a brilliant stockbroker and an outcast painter. Fabrizio Dori paints a balanced and absorbing portrait of a fearless artist and flawed human being whose all-consuming passion - for art, for women and for himself - destroyed everything in its path. Gauguin's primitivist painting won him few admirers in his own lifetime, but his radical break from Impressionism would pave the way for a new generations of artists, among them Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Henri Matisse.
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 6, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
December 16, 2017
Some art of Gauguin can be viewed here:
http://www.gauguin.org
Some of Fabrizio Dori’s comics art for the biography, inspired by Gauguin, can be viewed here:
http://www.selfmadehero.com/news/2017...
Gauguin: The Other World is a richly complex comics biography from the amazing Self Made Hero Art Masters series. If you are a Gauguin fan, this would be a must for you. When I went to the Chicago Art Institute for decades high on my list was the Institute’s terrific Impressionist collection. Gauguin’s Tahitian paintings would be there, but I knew nothing about him. He was an artist apart, on his own trajectory, focused on the “savage” and what became labeled “primitivism.” I knew little of his biography, though knew he painted with Van Gogh for a time. I guess I knew of his leaving his wife and children for his single-minded devotion to his (little appreciated, in his lifetime, at least) art, his relations with a young woman, Teuva, in Tahiti, but I was basically unaware of his connection to the Tahitian gods that some felt were part of the islands. The supernatural lurks in his paintings.
If you are at all curious about Gauguin, this book would be a great place to begin; it opens with the myth about how Tahiti became an island formed from a god, and introduces us to the view of the natives that white people that visited from abroad were soul-less. Gauguin, who arrived in Tahiti in 1891, was seen as the “maker of men” through his art, and the locals saw him as different from other white people, one with a soul. He himself attests to this, in a way, introducing through his art a Spirit that haunted him, pictured in his 1892 painting Manaó Tupapaù (Spirit of the Dead Watching):
https://bookishbeck.wordpress.com/201...
(Thanks to Rebecca Foster, whose review is the one to read here on Goodreads, the most substantial treatment of the book.)
In the end, we see how Gauguin, misunderstood in his lifetime, paved the way for a new generation of artists, among them Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Henri Matisse. I liked learning about Gauguin in this comics biography; like Picasso, he’s interesting, clearly a “genius” of a kind, and not that likeable or admirable as a person. As he himself says, he gave his heart to Teuva, but after his art, his truest love, he didn’t have much of that heart left for her or others.
But a great appreciation for Gauguin’s art can be gained from Dori’s amazing illustrations. It must be a terrific challenge to write a biography of a great writer; you have to step up your game, in tribute. Here artist Dori pays tribute to artist Gauguin, sometimes in the style of his master. And the artwork is wonderful. I would have wished for a larger framework; some of the panels are too small to help us appreciate fully Dori’s accomplishment, but it will serve, on the whole. I recommend it.
A link to a 2017 Gauguin exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/ar...
I have read three others in the Art Masters series, all great:
Munch:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Vincent:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Pablo:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have yet to read Dali, in the series.
http://www.gauguin.org
Some of Fabrizio Dori’s comics art for the biography, inspired by Gauguin, can be viewed here:
http://www.selfmadehero.com/news/2017...
Gauguin: The Other World is a richly complex comics biography from the amazing Self Made Hero Art Masters series. If you are a Gauguin fan, this would be a must for you. When I went to the Chicago Art Institute for decades high on my list was the Institute’s terrific Impressionist collection. Gauguin’s Tahitian paintings would be there, but I knew nothing about him. He was an artist apart, on his own trajectory, focused on the “savage” and what became labeled “primitivism.” I knew little of his biography, though knew he painted with Van Gogh for a time. I guess I knew of his leaving his wife and children for his single-minded devotion to his (little appreciated, in his lifetime, at least) art, his relations with a young woman, Teuva, in Tahiti, but I was basically unaware of his connection to the Tahitian gods that some felt were part of the islands. The supernatural lurks in his paintings.
If you are at all curious about Gauguin, this book would be a great place to begin; it opens with the myth about how Tahiti became an island formed from a god, and introduces us to the view of the natives that white people that visited from abroad were soul-less. Gauguin, who arrived in Tahiti in 1891, was seen as the “maker of men” through his art, and the locals saw him as different from other white people, one with a soul. He himself attests to this, in a way, introducing through his art a Spirit that haunted him, pictured in his 1892 painting Manaó Tupapaù (Spirit of the Dead Watching):
https://bookishbeck.wordpress.com/201...
(Thanks to Rebecca Foster, whose review is the one to read here on Goodreads, the most substantial treatment of the book.)
In the end, we see how Gauguin, misunderstood in his lifetime, paved the way for a new generation of artists, among them Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Henri Matisse. I liked learning about Gauguin in this comics biography; like Picasso, he’s interesting, clearly a “genius” of a kind, and not that likeable or admirable as a person. As he himself says, he gave his heart to Teuva, but after his art, his truest love, he didn’t have much of that heart left for her or others.
But a great appreciation for Gauguin’s art can be gained from Dori’s amazing illustrations. It must be a terrific challenge to write a biography of a great writer; you have to step up your game, in tribute. Here artist Dori pays tribute to artist Gauguin, sometimes in the style of his master. And the artwork is wonderful. I would have wished for a larger framework; some of the panels are too small to help us appreciate fully Dori’s accomplishment, but it will serve, on the whole. I recommend it.
A link to a 2017 Gauguin exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/ar...
I have read three others in the Art Masters series, all great:
Munch:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Vincent:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Pablo:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have yet to read Dali, in the series.
May 1, 2017
Fabrizio Dori’s Gauguin is the third graphic novel I’ve reviewed from SelfMadeHero’s “Art Masters” series, after Munch and Vincent. Like those previous volumes, it delivers salient snippets of biography alongside drawings that cleverly echo the subject’s artistic style. Here the focus is on the last 12 years of Paul Gauguin’s life (1848–1903), which were largely spent in the South Pacific.
The book opens with a macro, cosmic view – the myth of the origin of Tahiti and a prophecy of fully clothed, soulless men arriving in a great canoe – before zeroing in on Gauguin’s arrival in June 1891. Although he returned to Europe in 1893–5, Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands would be his final homes. This is all covered in a whirlwind Chapter 1 that ends by, Christmas Carol-like, introducing a Spirit (as pictured in his 1892 painting Manaó Tupapaù (Spirit of the Dead Watching)) who will lead Gauguin – in a morphine haze on his deathbed in 1903 – and readers on a tour through his past.
Gauguin grew up in Peru and Paris, and at age 17 joined the crew of a merchant marine vessel to South America and the West Indies. Back in Paris, he tried to make a living as a stockbroker and salesman while developing as a self-taught artist. He married Mette, a Danish woman, but left her and their children behind in Copenhagen when he departed for Tahiti. The paintings he sent back were unprofitable, and she soon came to curse his career choice.
The locals called Gauguin “the man who makes men” for his skill in portraiture, but also “the woman man” because he wore his hair long. He moved from Papeete, Tahiti’s European-style colonial town, to a cabin in the woods to become more like a savage, and also explored the ghost-haunted island interior. Teura came to live with him as his muse and his lover.
The book is full of wonderful colors and spooky imagery. The palette shifts to suit the mood: dusky blue and purple for the nighttime visit of the Spirit, contrasting with lush greens, pinks and orange for other island scenes and simple ocher and black for the sequences where Gauguin is justifying his decisions. The black-robed, hollow-faced Spirit reminded me of similar figures imagined by Ingmar Bergman and Hayao Miyazaki – could these film directors have been inspired by Gauguin’s Polynesian emissary of death?
Overall this struck me as a very original and atmospheric way of delivering a life story. Although the font is a little bit difficult to read and I ultimately preferred the art to the narration, they still combine to build a portrait of a brazen genius who shunned conventional duties to pursue his art and cultivate the primitive tradition in new ways. Gauguin ends with a short sequence set in Paris in 1907, as Pablo Picasso, fired up by a Gauguin retrospective show, declares, “We must break with formal beauty. We must be savages.”
I appreciated this brief peek into the future, as well as the five-page appendix of critical and biographical information on Gauguin contributed by art critic Céline Delavaux. What I said about Vincent holds true here too: I’d recommend this to anyone with an interest in the lives of artists, whether you think you’re a fan of graphic novels or not. It will be particularly intriguing to see how Dori’s vision of Gauguin compares to that in W. Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence, which I plan to start soon.
With thanks to Paul Smith of SelfMadeHero – celebrating its 10th anniversary this year – for the review copy. Translated from the French by Edward Gauvin.
Originally published with images on my blog, Bookish Beck.
The book opens with a macro, cosmic view – the myth of the origin of Tahiti and a prophecy of fully clothed, soulless men arriving in a great canoe – before zeroing in on Gauguin’s arrival in June 1891. Although he returned to Europe in 1893–5, Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands would be his final homes. This is all covered in a whirlwind Chapter 1 that ends by, Christmas Carol-like, introducing a Spirit (as pictured in his 1892 painting Manaó Tupapaù (Spirit of the Dead Watching)) who will lead Gauguin – in a morphine haze on his deathbed in 1903 – and readers on a tour through his past.
Gauguin grew up in Peru and Paris, and at age 17 joined the crew of a merchant marine vessel to South America and the West Indies. Back in Paris, he tried to make a living as a stockbroker and salesman while developing as a self-taught artist. He married Mette, a Danish woman, but left her and their children behind in Copenhagen when he departed for Tahiti. The paintings he sent back were unprofitable, and she soon came to curse his career choice.
The locals called Gauguin “the man who makes men” for his skill in portraiture, but also “the woman man” because he wore his hair long. He moved from Papeete, Tahiti’s European-style colonial town, to a cabin in the woods to become more like a savage, and also explored the ghost-haunted island interior. Teura came to live with him as his muse and his lover.
The book is full of wonderful colors and spooky imagery. The palette shifts to suit the mood: dusky blue and purple for the nighttime visit of the Spirit, contrasting with lush greens, pinks and orange for other island scenes and simple ocher and black for the sequences where Gauguin is justifying his decisions. The black-robed, hollow-faced Spirit reminded me of similar figures imagined by Ingmar Bergman and Hayao Miyazaki – could these film directors have been inspired by Gauguin’s Polynesian emissary of death?
Overall this struck me as a very original and atmospheric way of delivering a life story. Although the font is a little bit difficult to read and I ultimately preferred the art to the narration, they still combine to build a portrait of a brazen genius who shunned conventional duties to pursue his art and cultivate the primitive tradition in new ways. Gauguin ends with a short sequence set in Paris in 1907, as Pablo Picasso, fired up by a Gauguin retrospective show, declares, “We must break with formal beauty. We must be savages.”
I appreciated this brief peek into the future, as well as the five-page appendix of critical and biographical information on Gauguin contributed by art critic Céline Delavaux. What I said about Vincent holds true here too: I’d recommend this to anyone with an interest in the lives of artists, whether you think you’re a fan of graphic novels or not. It will be particularly intriguing to see how Dori’s vision of Gauguin compares to that in W. Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence, which I plan to start soon.
With thanks to Paul Smith of SelfMadeHero – celebrating its 10th anniversary this year – for the review copy. Translated from the French by Edward Gauvin.
Originally published with images on my blog, Bookish Beck.
December 16, 2017
Painting is a language, and colours are its alphabet. Red is vertical, invigorating, ascending, blue is horizontal, and peaceful, and yellow diagonal and perverted.
The artwork in this graphic novel is beyond gorgeous, but the story failed to engage me.
However, if Gauguin is your favorite artist, I'd say reading this is a must.
The artwork in this graphic novel is beyond gorgeous, but the story failed to engage me.
However, if Gauguin is your favorite artist, I'd say reading this is a must.
August 9, 2021
A fantastic visual portrait of Gauguin, inspired by his artistic style
This is a visually sumptuous graphic novel depicting the life of the infamous rebel painter and champion of the "primitive" in art and rejection of tawdry Western civilization. His symbolic escape to Tahiti and haunting paintings of Tahitian women and simple island life are a direct rejection of the materialistic and soul-less world of Western civilization.
It explores the spiritual struggles, megalomania, and single-minded pursuit of his art that Gauguin was eager to project to the larger world - his life was a form of protest against bourgeois thinking and formalist art, and his paintings were his tools to challenge the status quo.
If you are even slightly interested in him as a person, more dramatic than life, you will be entranced by this visually-brilliant dive into his complex mental and spiritual landscape.
This is a visually sumptuous graphic novel depicting the life of the infamous rebel painter and champion of the "primitive" in art and rejection of tawdry Western civilization. His symbolic escape to Tahiti and haunting paintings of Tahitian women and simple island life are a direct rejection of the materialistic and soul-less world of Western civilization.
It explores the spiritual struggles, megalomania, and single-minded pursuit of his art that Gauguin was eager to project to the larger world - his life was a form of protest against bourgeois thinking and formalist art, and his paintings were his tools to challenge the status quo.
If you are even slightly interested in him as a person, more dramatic than life, you will be entranced by this visually-brilliant dive into his complex mental and spiritual landscape.
February 21, 2020
رواية مصورة عن الفترة التي هجر فيها غوغان باريس ورحل إلى جزيرة تاهيتي. مع بعض خيال الكاتب/الرسام والأساطير التقليدية في الجزيرة
October 15, 2017
I'm enjoying this series of graphic biographies of artists, but I preferred the Picasso one to this one. Like that one, this book focuses on a short period of the artist's life. And like that one, it does a good job of using its own art style to establish context. But what do I feel about Gauguin? The author tried to show him in a balanced way. But let's face it. He was self absorbed with delusions of grandeur. He claimed to be seeking freedom, yet he clung to the approval of the Paris art establishment. He abandoned a wife, five children, a lover, and friends in need. He wanted the comfort of a sexual partner without any of the responsibility of being in a relationship. He would get what he wanted (at the expense of others) and then decide he wanted something else. Rather than truly become a part of the Tahitian culture, he co-opted it for his own advantage.
September 1, 2018
This is, perhaps, the best artist biography graphic novel I have read (meaning in this collection of new, various artists as contributors, biography series of Van Gogh, Dali, etc.) This book has BEAUTIFUL, exactly on point, Gaughin-style painted panels. The colors and textures are spot on and perfectly reflective of Gaughin's work - the cover, in this case, is a perfect indication of the luscious, luminous work within.
This book is told as a sort of dying fever dream and visit from a Tahitian god of the dead as Gaughin reviews the events of his life, specifically as they relate to his two trips to Tahiti. I want to say to this book what Gaughin says to his Tahitian lover (whom he lived with in Tahiti while he was married in France) Teura, "Do you want to come live with me in my house forever?"
This book is told as a sort of dying fever dream and visit from a Tahitian god of the dead as Gaughin reviews the events of his life, specifically as they relate to his two trips to Tahiti. I want to say to this book what Gaughin says to his Tahitian lover (whom he lived with in Tahiti while he was married in France) Teura, "Do you want to come live with me in my house forever?"
October 12, 2021
The narrative structure on this one didn’t quite work for me. Also he sounds like a terrible person and I’m kind of getting tired of this series being like “wow! such a genius! (also he was terrible to all the women in his life)”
November 5, 2019
У вас когда-нибудь бывало так, что биография (т.е сама книга) понравилась, а личность, о которой написано — нет?
У меня это произошло впервые с книгой про художника Гогена «Другой мир».
Подача великолепная, сюжет (если можно так выразиться об описании чужой жизни) выстроен идеально, рисовка как раз такая, как я люблю, есть и юмор, и пища для размышлений. К книге просто не придраться.
Но, божемой, сам Поль Гоген… это нечто. Передо мной предстал пусть и очень талантливый, но самовлюблённый тип, который возвышал себя над другими, просто потому что он художник. В видении Гогена быть художником – это как принадлежат к какой-то особой высшей расе. А мы, простолюдины, в жизни не сможем постичь то, что твориться в Непревзойдённом Уме Художника.
Не то чтобы измены – это что-то необычное, особенно среди людей творческих того времени, но то, как он легко уехал в другую страну и завёл там новую семью, протусил пару лет, вдохновляясь экзотической женщиной, а потом также легко свалил обратно… без малейших угрызений совести? Или их просто не захотели передавать авторы граф. романа?
В общем, всё это говорит не в пользу Гогена.
Мне кажется, мы часто идеализируем любимых художников, писателей, актёров. Забываем, что они тоже всего лишь люди. Забываем, что если человек талантлив, это не значит, что он может быть не очень хорошим другом, фиговым мужем и так себе сыном.
Это та мысль, на которую навела меня эта книга.
У меня это произошло впервые с книгой про художника Гогена «Другой мир».
Подача великолепная, сюжет (если можно так выразиться об описании чужой жизни) выстроен идеально, рисовка как раз такая, как я люблю, есть и юмор, и пища для размышлений. К книге просто не придраться.
Но, божемой, сам Поль Гоген… это нечто. Передо мной предстал пусть и очень талантливый, но самовлюблённый тип, который возвышал себя над другими, просто потому что он художник. В видении Гогена быть художником – это как принадлежат к какой-то особой высшей расе. А мы, простолюдины, в жизни не сможем постичь то, что твориться в Непревзойдённом Уме Художника.
Не то чтобы измены – это что-то необычное, особенно среди людей творческих того времени, но то, как он легко уехал в другую страну и завёл там новую семью, протусил пару лет, вдохновляясь экзотической женщиной, а потом также легко свалил обратно… без малейших угрызений совести? Или их просто не захотели передавать авторы граф. романа?
В общем, всё это говорит не в пользу Гогена.
Мне кажется, мы часто идеализируем любимых художников, писателей, актёров. Забываем, что они тоже всего лишь люди. Забываем, что если человек талантлив, это не значит, что он может быть не очень хорошим другом, фиговым мужем и так себе сыном.
Это та мысль, на которую навела меня эта книга.
Read
February 6, 20183.5
October 21, 2018
A light biography made more interesting by approaching it through the vehicle of some Tahitian mythology.
Beautifully illustrated in the style of its subject.
Beautifully illustrated in the style of its subject.
June 11, 2017
I loved this beautiful, poetic, and plausible portrayal of Gauguin rendered lusciously in his style.
April 28, 2018
This is from a series that shows artists' lives in their style of painting. This tale shows Gauguin fully, the good and the bad. It is incredible, and I hope to read the other books in the series.
April 4, 2020
4.6 but I'm giving it 5* because Fabrizio Dori's art is just simply divine and I could spend hours looking at the pages of the book! The reason it's not 5 stars for the moment is that 1) it wasn't as good as Le Dieu vagabond and 2) parts of the beginning are a bit forced and unnecessary. I get the idea of setting up the context but it was a bit awkward. Gauguin's encounter with the spirit world is much more interesting and show off Dori's storytelling talents. I feel like that part of it was just there to please an editor's demands - oh, you must talk about his past in France and his connections to other artists or people won't understand.
My favorite parts were the idea that an artist is a “maker of men” and that "white people" have a hole inside of them that they are trying to fill. Still true. This is definitely a case where the man, when looked at critically, is really a douche and yet Dori presents him so tenderly that you're not mad that he abandoned his wife and children, abandoned his Tahitian lover, and - obviously - was incredibly egocentric. I remember remember seeing Gauguin's work as a twentysomething and being angry about it... about the objectification and exoticism and hubris and now I think, well, he's a product of his time and he tried to do something different. Plus this book shows that he was actually shocked to discover that the port cities were basically just exported versions of Europe and stunned to learn that autochtones were already losing their culture (and basically on reservations on the other side of the island).
The back matter was really interesting and it led me to discover that Van Gogh's ear cutting episode was linked to a row between him and Gauguin and according to the internet, there is some speculation that VG didn't actually cut his ear off, that Gauguin hacked it off in their fight and that the two agreed on this other narrative. We'll never know but regardless of who cut it, everyone agrees it's related to VG's relationship with Gaugin. Oh boy, do I just love biographical graphic novels!
My favorite parts were the idea that an artist is a “maker of men” and that "white people" have a hole inside of them that they are trying to fill. Still true. This is definitely a case where the man, when looked at critically, is really a douche and yet Dori presents him so tenderly that you're not mad that he abandoned his wife and children, abandoned his Tahitian lover, and - obviously - was incredibly egocentric. I remember remember seeing Gauguin's work as a twentysomething and being angry about it... about the objectification and exoticism and hubris and now I think, well, he's a product of his time and he tried to do something different. Plus this book shows that he was actually shocked to discover that the port cities were basically just exported versions of Europe and stunned to learn that autochtones were already losing their culture (and basically on reservations on the other side of the island).
The back matter was really interesting and it led me to discover that Van Gogh's ear cutting episode was linked to a row between him and Gauguin and according to the internet, there is some speculation that VG didn't actually cut his ear off, that Gauguin hacked it off in their fight and that the two agreed on this other narrative. We'll never know but regardless of who cut it, everyone agrees it's related to VG's relationship with Gaugin. Oh boy, do I just love biographical graphic novels!
March 15, 2018
I have been enjoying the Art Masters series in general but this one fell flat for me. The art is stunning but I wish that Dori would have taken more attention telling Gauguin's story.
March 31, 2019
I'd heard good things about this graphic novel, which isn't a novel, but more like an imaginative book on Paul Gaugain, his life, his art, his beliefs and the folklore of Oceania and how it affected all the above. Which is a lot for one book, so the visual treatment is particularly effective in getting all of this across. I've never read anything quite like it, and I'm intrigued enough to think I might try the titles in this series on Van Gogh and Picasso. Of course, so many books, so little time...
December 11, 2018
hmmm, so I know nothing about Gauguin so I cant speak to the veracity of anything in the book, but I both liked and didn't like the approach of the story. Since Gauguin is telling his own story here he can frame it however he likes, and as much as the frame story requires his honesty he honestly sees many of his more despicable actions as reasonable or at the very least justifiable. His justifications are interesting but also disturbing to see spoken so frankly. Catherynne M. Valente talks in several of her books about the innate heartlessness of children & it kept coming back to me as I read though this work. This book sees Gauguin as a child or at least as constantly attached to his childhood self, which is nice but feels like they are making excuses for him. I know it's a biography of the artist but we never see the lives of all the people he leaves behind at best they are mentioned in passing once more after he leaves them. It's just too creeps for me.
On the upside the art is quite lovely, bouncing between lush island scenes, austere European landscapes, and strange otherworldly views. Recommended for those interested in an internal view of Gauguin's life/ and or general art bio fans.
On the upside the art is quite lovely, bouncing between lush island scenes, austere European landscapes, and strange otherworldly views. Recommended for those interested in an internal view of Gauguin's life/ and or general art bio fans.
September 20, 2017
I loved this book. I never cared for Paul Gauguin's work, but the story and art worked so well in this surreal story of life and death and the struggle of being an artist. The author is also the illustrator and what a nice voyage he took us. His style in the book seemed so close to Gauguin that it helped you appreciate his work even more. Seems effortless. I've seen other titles of this artist series, but the Munch one didn't seem to appeal to me because of the really different style used that seems inappropriate. This artist would have been perfect for the Munch book as well. I highly recommend it.
May 24, 2017
Gauguin is problematic. Right? Right? I don't know, I think he's interesting, and crazy, and we don't have to 100 percent make him about colonialist male gaze etc etc but...this book basically sees through that gaze and doesn't really... address that it's challenging? Gauguin was a hot mess, couching it in the terms of vagueish island religion doesn't change or really explain that fact. I prefer Gauguin in the Van Gogh book. Actually a jerk. The art in this was great of course. Butttttt yeah.
January 7, 2018
Really wonderful art, very contemplative, loved the Tahitian mythology, but this book about my favorite racist is definitely a very one-sided adoring tribute that fails as a well-rounded biography -- though I'm aware that that wasn't its aim.
February 16, 2020
Well
Shit...
This will haunt me forever
Shit...
This will haunt me forever
May 26, 2017
Graphic novels have truly become works of art. This beautiful entry feels like it's illustrated by Gauguin himself. The panels are lush and colorful and done in Gauguin's post-impressionistic style. Even the text is artistic. The story is told in a way that fits Gauguin's personality well. He presents his life to a figure of death that he conjured out of Tahitian culture. He's not concerned with justifying his strange behavior. Like most artists who push the boundaries, he tells of an all-consuming passion that drives him beyond normal behavior.
"Did I love Teura? Yes, with all my heart. It was just that in my case, the heart didn't mean much. I cannot give someone else what I myself do not have. I am deeply convinced that men have in them a limited amount of love at their disposal. Mine has mostly served to nourish the tyrant living inside me. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than giving others what remains. But there's so little left…"
"Did I love Teura? Yes, with all my heart. It was just that in my case, the heart didn't mean much. I cannot give someone else what I myself do not have. I am deeply convinced that men have in them a limited amount of love at their disposal. Mine has mostly served to nourish the tyrant living inside me. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than giving others what remains. But there's so little left…"
February 21, 2018
Meant as an introduction to the artist & aimed at teens, I'm sure, this text is more interesting & honest than others I've read in that it didn't gloss over that fact that Gauguin abandoned his wife and 5 kids when he literally decided to be "a great painter", and although it skims over the main themes of Gauguin's life, it does it smoothly and well (& includes a more detailed life overview at the end). The huge benefit of this graphic novel is that it is done entirely in the artistic style of Gauguin so it is absorbed without even trying while 'traveling' along his life story as presented. It tries to communicate, I think, the all-encompassing obsession that the concept & fact of freedom came to mean to Gauguin and why it was the cause & relief from his own creations.
Looking forward to tracking down the others in this series now that my interest is piqued; I think the Gauguin book is a better-than-decent introduction to the artist for youngsters & the art was utterly beautiful.
Looking forward to tracking down the others in this series now that my interest is piqued; I think the Gauguin book is a better-than-decent introduction to the artist for youngsters & the art was utterly beautiful.
November 9, 2024
Came across Gauguin's name when I was reading another book and wanted to find out more about this painter himself.
Not knowing about Gaugin prior to this book, I think of Gaugin as a stubborn person who was notorious in going about his ways in the art world. Unsatiated by whatever the state of affairs was at each stage of his life, it makes one wonder how much of a unpleasant person many would have perceived him to be.
On the contrary, I am wondered by the extent he is able to move across the world not once by twice to pursue the nagging thoughts he had in his mind. Despite a drastic change in environment, despite his family being separated from him, he never relented and kept moving forward. For what ideals? For what aspirations?
I, for one, am roused by his never-ending pursuit, constant experimentation, and exhibition for the dramatic despite what others may think.
Not knowing about Gaugin prior to this book, I think of Gaugin as a stubborn person who was notorious in going about his ways in the art world. Unsatiated by whatever the state of affairs was at each stage of his life, it makes one wonder how much of a unpleasant person many would have perceived him to be.
On the contrary, I am wondered by the extent he is able to move across the world not once by twice to pursue the nagging thoughts he had in his mind. Despite a drastic change in environment, despite his family being separated from him, he never relented and kept moving forward. For what ideals? For what aspirations?
I, for one, am roused by his never-ending pursuit, constant experimentation, and exhibition for the dramatic despite what others may think.
September 20, 2021
Dans un mélange entre récit onirique et biographie de Paul Gauguin, Fabrizio Dori nous plonge dans un monde exotique et fascinant aux couleurs chaudes inspirées directement de la palette de Gauguin.
On ressent aussi la grande influence de Van Gogh dans son trait et dans sa façon de structurer les visages.
J’ai adoré les liens entre les différents artistes de la fin du 19ème et début 20ème, les influences et amitiés entre quelques grands noms de l’Histoire de l’Art. Très belle lecture!
Je décide néanmoins de lui enlever une étoile car ayant lu cette BD après « Le Dieu vagabond » ou « le divin scénario » du même auteur, je ressens le récit parfois plus décousu et l’univers graphique (cela dit déjà incroyable) moins affirmé.
On ressent aussi la grande influence de Van Gogh dans son trait et dans sa façon de structurer les visages.
J’ai adoré les liens entre les différents artistes de la fin du 19ème et début 20ème, les influences et amitiés entre quelques grands noms de l’Histoire de l’Art. Très belle lecture!
Je décide néanmoins de lui enlever une étoile car ayant lu cette BD après « Le Dieu vagabond » ou « le divin scénario » du même auteur, je ressens le récit parfois plus décousu et l’univers graphique (cela dit déjà incroyable) moins affirmé.
July 7, 2018
I bought it because I like Gauguin's art and I was curious. I didn't know what I should have expected from this.
But what I found... Not even in my wildest dream: this is a story of Gauguin told by the perspective of Gauguin himself talking to a sort of Tahitian spirit. I kind of like the idea but the whole story was a bit too metaphysical for me: I usually love more concrete story.
What I really like about this graphic novel is the drawings. Fabrizio Dori reproduced on paper Gauguin's style. I like the round figures and the bright colors.
I'll definitely read more books from the Art Masters series. I'll start from the one dedicated to Vincent van Gogh, I guess.
But what I found... Not even in my wildest dream: this is a story of Gauguin told by the perspective of Gauguin himself talking to a sort of Tahitian spirit. I kind of like the idea but the whole story was a bit too metaphysical for me: I usually love more concrete story.
What I really like about this graphic novel is the drawings. Fabrizio Dori reproduced on paper Gauguin's style. I like the round figures and the bright colors.
I'll definitely read more books from the Art Masters series. I'll start from the one dedicated to Vincent van Gogh, I guess.
January 19, 2020
As a grad student studying Art History I really enjoy these graphic novels of famous artists!
I do want to say that I personally don’t like Gauguin. His art work has beautiful colors but the man himself wasn’t great. As these graphic biography shows he was a kind of a huge selfish jerk. They do gloss over how much younger his Tahitian lover was and the creepiness of their “marriage”. She was 13. They mention he is 20 years older without explicitly stating her age.
But the graphic novel itself is very well done. The story telling was intriguing and the art is gorgeous. The artist did a great job recreating the essence of Gauguin’s work.
I do want to say that I personally don’t like Gauguin. His art work has beautiful colors but the man himself wasn’t great. As these graphic biography shows he was a kind of a huge selfish jerk. They do gloss over how much younger his Tahitian lover was and the creepiness of their “marriage”. She was 13. They mention he is 20 years older without explicitly stating her age.
But the graphic novel itself is very well done. The story telling was intriguing and the art is gorgeous. The artist did a great job recreating the essence of Gauguin’s work.
December 4, 2023
La pittura di Gauguin, così originale e unica nel suo genere, ovviamente è protagonista delle tavole che raccontano la sua vita, il suo amore per l’arte, il rapporto così tormentato con la società dell’epoca. Fuggiasco, esule per sua scelta, Gauguin si rifugia nella natura, cercando di mettere a tacere la dura lotta dentro di sé. Sempre in cerca di “un altro mondo” che, forse, può esistere solo sulla tela e mai nella realtà.
Consigliato a chi vuole conoscere la storia del pittore. Centrale il suo dipinto “Manao Tupapau”. Dopo aver letto questo graphic vorrei recuperare anche “Il paradiso è altrove” di Vargas Llosa e “La luna e sei soldi” di Maugham che vengono citati.
Consigliato a chi vuole conoscere la storia del pittore. Centrale il suo dipinto “Manao Tupapau”. Dopo aver letto questo graphic vorrei recuperare anche “Il paradiso è altrove” di Vargas Llosa e “La luna e sei soldi” di Maugham che vengono citati.
June 4, 2018
I thought this was kind of boring. There wasn't much characterization. It was obvious that a lot of the dialogue (monologue) was taken from his journals and letters. This left Degas feeling stiff and unnatural. At the end of the book there are a few pages of text about Degas and I thought they were more interesting than the entire book. In that section Degas was presented as an eccentric adventurer who constantly reinvented himself, but in the comic he just seemed like "some guy".
I do have to say the art was beautiful.
I do have to say the art was beautiful.
April 23, 2019
Slobber this book on pau l gaugin.I was in Tahitiyears ago and came to learn a lot about Gaugin. sadly, I never heard this story ,but as I was reading it and enjoying the art that wE do familiar to the life I lived there and, I felt lost in Gaugin dreams once again
Anybody, but without a do U t...students of Gaugins wonderfully There are still many people living on the island of Tahiti and I got this book because I would be interested to hear as well as read these wonder stories and I mean hear from the mouths of the islanders themselves
Anybody, but without a do U t...students of Gaugins wonderfully There are still many people living on the island of Tahiti and I got this book because I would be interested to hear as well as read these wonder stories and I mean hear from the mouths of the islanders themselves
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