The Symbolism of Paul Gauguin: Erotica, Exotica, and the Great Dilemmas of Humanity

The Symbolism of Paul Gauguin: Erotica, Exotica, and the Great Dilemmas of Humanity by Dorra, Henri. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780520241305.

In this magisterial book, Henri Dorra synthesizes more than fifty years of study to present a comprehensive examination of Paul Gauguins symbolism. Drawing on his profound grasp of the artistic and social contexts in which Gauguin worked, Dorra provides new, complex insights into and interpretations of Gauguins multilayered symbolism. The Symbolism of Paul Gauguin is lavishly illustrated with a major visual compendium of the artists prodigious output. The highly readable narrative, based on a sophisticated understanding of Gauguins oeuvre, offers a masterly interpretation of recurrent images and their interrelationships in the contemporaneous artistic and social context. Dorra discusses Gauguins iconography and the artists treatments of similar themes in various media, from prepatory drawings for paintings to related ceramics and wood carvings. He traces Gauguins meanings in literary sources from classical mythology and the Bible to late ninetheenth-century literature. He also links the form and content of the artists work to his unusual ancestry and upbringing. As the final scholarly work by an internationally recognized expert on nineteenth-century French symbolism, this book provides a profound new perspective on Gauguin and his work.