Visual Analysis: How Gauguin s Vision after the Sermon (1888) Deviates from Conventions in 19th-Century French Painting Soryn Mouton/ Bedarida/ HTA 1/ 9-30-15
Paul Gauguin, in his 1888 work titled Vision after the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), deviates from the conventions of previous movements in French painting, specifically impressionism, in form, content, and style. Gauguin reveals how the painting breaks from tradition first in the title of the work: by calling it Vision after the Sermon, he asserts that the scene witnessed by the Breton women of Jacob and the Angel is in fact happening only in the minds of these women, a vision as opposed to an actual event. 1 Gauguin thus reveals the importance of imagination in this painting, as opposed to the paintings of the impressionists, which strove primarily to convey the realistic effect of light on an environment. 2 Also, by directly referencing a biblical theme in the title, Gauguin strays away from the ideals of impressionism in that he is rejecting realism and naturalism in favor of a spiritual theme. 3 Perhaps the most important way in which Gauguin deviates from previous movements in painting with this work is in its form. Specifically, Gaugin s use of color and the way that he represents reality differ dramatically from the techniques of the neoclassicists, romanticists, and especially the impressionists who came before him. For instance, Gauguin represents a pastoral scene using very unnatural colors: the ground beneath Jacob and the angel is bright red, and the wrestling figures themselves are painted in bright blues, yellows, and oranges. By using unnatural colors, Gaugin is freeing color from the natural world, heightening the sense of the spiritual in this painting. 4 In contrast to the vivid colors of Jacob and the Angel, Gauguin chose to paint 1 Gauguin, Paul, and Phoebe Pool. Paul Gauguin. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1978. Print. 4 2 Chu, Petra ten-doesschate. Nineteenth-Century European Art. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print. 474 3 4 Rookmaaker, H. R. Gauguin and 19th Century Art Theory. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger, 1972. Print. 109 Pool, 4.
the peasant women watching the scene in dull, subdued blues and browns. This creates a division in the painting between the heavenly vision that the women are having, and the earthly scene of the women themselves. 5 Gauguin wanted to provide a contrast between these people and the struggle in the landscape which is not real and out of proportion. 6 This could be a way of asserting Earth s separation from heaven, but at the same time the human desire to always be closer to heaven through spirituality, depicted in this painting as the women s experience of a heavenly vision inspired by a sermon. Gauguin also deviates from traditional formal techniques by flattening the space in the painting. In contrast to the impressionists, who aimed to create a realistic sense of space and light, Gauguin wanted to break the picture plane into areas of flat color. 7 He accomplishes this by placing great importance on composition and dividing the painting into sections of color using thick contour lines. 8 He also uses the tree trunk to divide the painting down the middle, flattening the space and creating a uniform sense of depth throughout the work. As opposed to a realistic depiction of space, Gauguin wanted to create a field of colored sections. Gauguin creates simple, solid, well-defined forms, that at the same time blur visual boundaries with their flattening of space, so the viewer can digest the experience as a whole. 9 This reflects the trend towards abstraction in Gauguin s work in that he treats the paint as a substance on paper, meant to create a feeling through the use of color and texture as opposed to perfectly 5 6 7 8 9 Chu, 472. Pool, 4. Elgar, Frank. The Post-impressionists. Oxford: Phaidon, 1977. Print. 9. Rookmaaker, 130. Wayne Andersen. Gauguin's Paradise Lost. New York: Viking, 1971. Print. 51.
representing reality. 10 By using unconventional formal techniques to represent a biblical and pastoral scene, both of which had been traditional subjects in painting prior to Gauguin, he is subverting these traditional themes.through the use of unnatural color and flattened space, Gaugin is taking a traditional religious subject and asserting that it is actually about spirituality, but more importantly, about paint on a canvas. Not only does this work reject formal convention, but it rejects conventions in content as well. Specifically, Gauguin made this painting while living in Breton, an area in northern France that was considered to have backwards and antiquated customs. While other painters of the time, specifically impressionists, were painting contemporary Parisian society, Gauguin was repelled by what he saw as the corruption of civilization, preferring to paint subjects that adhered to old customs, which he saw as more pure. Gauguin chose to depict the peasant women of Breton in this work because he was drawn to the spirituality he saw in their devout and traditional Christian beliefs, which had been unchanged for generations.this painting was a reaction against the uncaring, materialistic world of urban Europe, depicting Brittany as a kind of Eden where the people had deep spirituality that appealed to Gauguin. 11 Although it depicts a religious occurrence, this painting also breaks from convention in that it is not a religious painting. Many other paintings of the 19th century also used religious themes to advocate causes other than religious ones, but Vision after the Sermon differs from these paintings because it is specifically a spiritual painting, emphasizing the importance of imagination in art and in human life. While other painters of religious symbols, like the neoclassicists, for example, use these 10 11 Chu, 473. Chu, 475.
symbols to advocate for political causes, Gauguin uses them to advocate for spirituality in modern life. Gauguin chose to depict these women from Brittany because, with their intense faith and shared customs, they form one unified group that exemplifies Gauguin s idea of spirituality. 12 What seems to be striking about this scene for Gauguin is neither the religious scene more the vision itself, but rather the fact that the women s faith was strong enough to cause them to have this vision. He writes that the landscape and the struggle exist only in the imagination of those praying people. 13 By deliberately placing an imagined vision as the most important part of the piece, Gauguin shows the importance of the imagination in his work. In addition to breaking from convention both formally and in its content, this painting was also a way for Gauguin to explore a new type of art that he called Synthetism. This movement was based on Cloisonnism, which partitioned the picture plane into areas of flat color, but it went beyond Cloisonnism in its aims. Specifically, it strove to express, through form and color, the inner poetry and mystery of reality. 14 This is very evident in Vision after the Sermon, in which Gauguin uses unnatural colors to portray heaven and dull colors to portray Earth, thus revealing a separation between them. This painting also reflects Synthetism in that it is a reaction against impressionism. For example, while impressionism was very naturalistic, striving to depict reality as it appeared, Gauguin was against naturalism, striving instead to depict reality in its deepest sense, meaning that he wanted to express the poetry of life and 12 13 14 Rookmaaker, 60. Pool, 4. Chu, 472
not simply the appearance of it. 15 Also important in this painting is subjectivity: the women are watching a scene that is a complete product of their imaginations. This reflects Synthetism as well in that like this painting, Synthetism also stressed the subjective individual experience as opposed to objective reality. 16 Vision after the Sermon is part of the art historical cannon because it deviated from the traditional techniques used by earlier artists in its formal qualities, its subject matter, and its style. Using unconventional painting techniques such as unnatural colors and flattening of space, Gauguin created a scene in which perfectly depicting reality was subordinate to revealing the inner poetry of life. With this painting, Gauguin struck out against what he saw as the corruption and materialism of civilized Europe, turning to Brittany as a kind of paradise where the devout spirituality of the residents provided poetic truth about life. 15 16 Rookmaaker, 111. Rookmaaker, 110.