Paul Gauguin Painter, Sculptor 1848 – 1903 Painter, Sculptor 1848 – 1903

 Born on June 7, 1848 in Paris, france  Mother was peruvian, family lived Peru for 4 years  Family returns to France when he is 7  Serves in the Merchant Marine, then the French Navy  Returns to Paris and becomes a Stockbroker  Marries a danish woman and they have 5 children  They live in Copenhagen where he is a stockbroker  Paints in his free time – buys art in galleries and makes friends with artists  Born on June 7, 1848 in Paris, france  Mother was peruvian, family lived Peru for 4 years  Family returns to France when he is 7  Serves in the Merchant Marine, then the French Navy  Returns to Paris and becomes a Stockbroker  Marries a danish woman and they have 5 children  They live in Copenhagen where he is a stockbroker  Paints in his free time – buys art in galleries and makes friends with artists

 Decides he wants to paint full time – leaves his family in Copenhagen and goes back to Paris  His early work is in the impressionist style which is very popular at that time  He is not very successful at his art, he is poor  Leaves France to find a simpler life on a tropical island  Decides he wants to paint full time – leaves his family in Copenhagen and goes back to Paris  His early work is in the impressionist style which is very popular at that time  He is not very successful at his art, he is poor  Leaves France to find a simpler life on a tropical island Portrait of Madame Gauguin (1880) Aline Gauguin Brothers (1883)

Visits his friend Vincent vanGogh in Arles, France where they both paint They quarrel, with van Gogh famously cutting off part of his own ear Gauguin leaves france and never sees van Gogh again Night Café at Arles (1888)

The Siesta (1892) Decides he doesn’t like impressionism, prefers native art of africa and asia because it has more meaning (symbolism) He paints flat areas of color and bold outlines He lives in Tahiti and paints images of Polynesian life

Tahitian women on the beach (1891)

When do you get married? (1892)  His art is in the Primitivist style- exaggerated body proportions, animal symbolism, geometric designs and bold contrasting colors  Gauguin is the first artist of his time to become successful with this style (so different from the popular impressionism)  His work influences other painters, especially Pablo Picasso  His art is in the Primitivist style- exaggerated body proportions, animal symbolism, geometric designs and bold contrasting colors  Gauguin is the first artist of his time to become successful with this style (so different from the popular impressionism)  His work influences other painters, especially Pablo Picasso

Gauguin spent the remainder of his life painting and living in the Marquesas Islands, a very remote, jungle-like place in French Polynesia (close to Tahiti)

Gauguin’s house, Atuona, Marquesas Islands

Gauguin’s grave Gauguin lived alone in the jungle, where one day his houseboy arrived to find him dead, with a smile on his face. He was 54 years old (1903). He is buried among the natives on the island.

Georges-Pierre Seurat Painter 1859 – 1891 Painter 1859 – 1891

 Born on December 2, 1859 in Paris, france  Wealthy family  Studies art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts  Devotes himself first to mastering the art of black and white drawing  Born on December 2, 1859 in Paris, france  Wealthy family  Studies art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts  Devotes himself first to mastering the art of black and white drawing

 His first major painting, bathers at Asniéres, is rejected by the Paris salon (the salon was a huge annual exhibition where art was judged before it could be shown, it decided what art and which artists were “in”)  In response, he joins other artists in forming the Société des Artistes Indépendants  His first major painting, bathers at Asniéres, is rejected by the Paris salon (the salon was a huge annual exhibition where art was judged before it could be shown, it decided what art and which artists were “in”)  In response, he joins other artists in forming the Société des Artistes Indépendants Bathers at Asniéres (1884)

 Scientists of this time were writing about theories of color and how the eye sees things. They discover that when seen from a distance, two differently colored dots seem to blend into a third color. Painters jump on this idea and start painting with small colorful dots placed close together rather than solid colored strokes of pre-mixed paint  This is called Pointillism  Scientists of this time were writing about theories of color and how the eye sees things. They discover that when seen from a distance, two differently colored dots seem to blend into a third color. Painters jump on this idea and start painting with small colorful dots placed close together rather than solid colored strokes of pre-mixed paint  This is called Pointillism

Seurat believed that the emotion of happiness could be shown through bright, warm colors and the use of lines directed upward. Calm is shown by balancing light and dark, warm and cold colors and lines that are horizontal (sideways). Sadness is shown by using dark colors and lines that point down. Eiffel Tower (1889)

In the summer of 1884, Seurat began work on his most famous painting “Sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”. It was a huge 10-foot-wide painting and it took him two years to paint. The original painting now lives at the Art Institute of Chicago

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte ( )

While in the midst of working on new a painting called “the Circus”, he died suddenly of an illness in Paris on March He was 31 years old. The Circus (1891)