National Gallery of Canada presents world premiere

Gauguin: Portraits

• The first-ever exhibition devoted to portraits by Paul Gauguin, one of the most influential and complex artists of the 19^th century.
• This ground-breaking exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Canada, which is the only North American venue for this show.
• The exhibition allows for a fresh look at Paul Gauguin's oeuvre.

OTTAWA, May 22, 2019 /CNW/ - From May 24 to September 8, 2019, the National Gallery of Canada presents Gauguin: Portraits, offering the opportunity to see the work of French artist Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903) from a unique perspective, bringing new insights into his vision of portraiture.

Gauguin's work has been the subject of many exhibitions, but Gauguin: Portraits is the first exhibition dedicated to his portraiture. One of the most important and fascinating artists of the nineteenth century, Gauguin expanded the traditional practice of portraiture in groundbreaking ways and had a fundamental influence on the art of the 20^th and the 21^st centuries.

The exhibition highlights the way in which the artist used self-portraits and portraits of others to construct his own narrative, express himself and his ideas about art, and to pursue his ambitions as a leader of the avant-garde in Paris. Gauguin challenged the traditional functions of portraiture, giving it new meaning. He was rarely interested in exploring his models' social standing, personality, or family background, which were the main reasons for making portraits in the past. Nonetheless, he was very knowledgeable about Western portraiture traditions. He used poses, compositional formats, and attributes in a way that, even when the subject is unknown, his works still look like portraits.

Gauguin worked in many different media – from painting, drawing and printmaking to sculpture, pottery and writing- all of which he used to make portraits. His use of intense colour, his interest in non-western subject matter, and his multi-media approach early on inspired artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

Featuring works from the 1880s to the end of the artist's life, Gauguin: Portraits is the first major exhibition on Gauguin to be presented at the National Gallery of Canada, which is the only North American venue to offer the show. It is co-organized by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and the National Gallery, London, England, where it will be on view from October 7, 2019, to January 26, 2020.

The thematic exhibition explores various aspects of Gauguin's portraiture. It features paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings from public and private collections from around the world, including the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, U.S.A; The Art Institute of Chicago, U.S.A.; The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan; the Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; and The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. It also comprises works on paper from the National Gallery of Canada's collection that highlight Gauguin's friendships and collaborations. Many of these works have rarely been seen together.

Gauguin: Portraits has been four years in the making and was conceived by Cornelia Homburg, guest curator at the National Gallery of Canada, a specialist of late-19th-century art. Ms. Homburg worked in close collaboration with co-curator Christopher Riopelle, the Neil Westreich Curator of Post-1800 Paintings at the National Gallery, London.

The exhibition was sparked by Paul Gauguin's larger-than-life oak bust of Dutch painter and friend Meijer de Haan, made between 1889 and 1890 and purchased by the Gallery in 1968. A dedicated gallery in the exhibition presents ground breaking findings by Doris Couture-Rigert, Chief Conservator at the Gallery, on how Gauguin made the polychrome sculpture.

Quotes
"We are thrilled to invite audiences to Ottawa and to London to experience Gauguin: Portraits, the first ever exhibition on this theme – enter the real and imagined worlds of Paul Gauguin, his circle of friends and acquaintances. The presentation of Gauguin: Portraits is the fruit of an in-depth investigation by the co-curators with a group of international scholars and becomes part of a long standing collaboration between our two National Galleries." – Dr. Sasha Suda, Director and CEO, National Gallery of Canada

"Working on the preparation of Gauguin: Portraits was absolutely fascinating from beginning to end. Not only because of the new findings we made, but also because it brought to the fore Gauguin's boundless creativity as well as the contradictory nature of his artistic positions and personal ambitions." – Dr. Cornelia Homburg, guest curator of Gauguin: Portraits at the National Gallery of Canada, a specialist of late-19th-century art

Vernissage
Thursday, May 23, from 6 pm to 8 pm, in the Scotiabank Great Hall. Free admission.

Exhibition catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue, the first publication devoted to Paul Gauguin's portraiture. The catalogue is based on a collaboration with an international team of scholars. It presents insightful contributions and new findings, the result of several years of research. It is available at an exclusive exhibition price of $40 + taxes at the Gallery's Boutique, and online.

Lectures and Talks
Saturday, May 25, 2019, from 2 pm to 3pm: Defining his Art, Honing his Vision, Articulating his Ambitions: Gauguin's Models. Dr. Cornelia Homburg, specialist of late-19th-century art and guest curator at the National Gallery of Canada, will give an in-depth introduction to the Gauguin: Portraits exhibition. In the Auditorium. Free admission.

Saturday, June 15, 2019, from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm: Gauguin: The Lonely Shepherd. Claire Bernardi, Curator of Paintings at the Musée d'Orsay, will talk about Gauguin as the leader of a new school of art. In French with simultaneous interpretation in English. In the Auditorium. Free admission.

Thursday, June 27, 2019, at 6 pm: Perspectives from a New Generation of Gauguin Scholars. Cornelia Homburg in conversation with Kirsten Marples, Washington University, St. Louis, and Caroline Shields, Art Gallery of Ontario. In the Auditorium. Free admission.

Thursday, September 5, 2019, at 6 pm:  Gauguin and Colonialism:  Art and Encounter in French Polynesia by Elizabeth Childs, Etta and Mark Steinberg Professor of Art History, 19^th and 20^th Century European Modernism, Washington University, St. Louis. In the Auditorium. Free admission.

Timed ticketed admission
Admission to Gauguin: Portraits is time ticketed. Tickets for a specific date and time may be purchased online and at the box-office. Admission is free for Members. Adults: $24; seniors (65+): $22; 24 and under/students with ID: $16; children of 11 and under: free; and families (2 adults and 3 youths 17 and under): $48. Exhibition tickets include admission to the Gallery's national collection.

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SOURCE National Gallery of Canada

For media only: To plan an interview, obtain images, or for more information, please contact: Josée-Britanie Mallet, Senior Media and Public Relations Officer, National Gallery of Canada, [e-mail], 613.990.6835