(P/B) GAUGUIN
MAKER OF MYTH

Paul Gauguin was one of the most extraordinary and innovative artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and his life and art have gripped the imagination of thepublic for over a hundred years. The vivid, unnaturalistic colours and bold outlines of his paintings and the strong, semi-abstract quality of his woodcuts had a profound effect on the development of twentieth-century art. At the same time, his extensive travels and his decision to forsake France for the South Seas have led him to be perceived as both the ultimate bohemian artist and as a European colonial adventurer. This beautifully illustrated book, covering the whole of Gauguin's career and accompanying a major touring exhibition, focuses on his use of narrative, both as inspiration and fuel for his work and as a tool to create a personal mythology around himself as an artist. Essays by leading international experts, drawing on the latest research, go beyond the romance of the Gauguin biography to present him as a key figure in European modernity and its embrace of worlds and artefacts it described as primitive or savage. As well as featuring many well-known oil paintings and drawings, the book examines Gauguin's woodcarvings and ceramics and explores his legacy as a writer. Contributing authors: Belinda Thomson is an independent scholar and Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Tamar Garb is Durning Lawrence Professor in the History of Art, University College London. Philippe Dagen teaches Contemporary Art at the Sorbonne and is a critic for Le Monde. Amy Dickson is an assistant curator at Tate Modern. Charles Forsdick is James Barrow Professor of French at the University of Liverpool. Vincent Gille works at the Maison de Victor Hugo in Paris. Linda Goddard is Lecturer in Art History at the University of St Andrews. (From the publisher)