Self Portrait with the Yellow Christ
Paul Gaugin
PAUL GAUGIN, 1889, OIL ON CANVAS
Paul Gaugin is caught between two versions of his self. A yellow Christ hangs to his right, a figure he often used as an analogy for himself, and an abstract self-portrait to his left. He sits uncomfortably, almost confrontationally, in the middle. One of many self-portraits executed by Gauguin over his career, this painting is unique in that it is Gauguin’s only triplicate, an exploration of the multi-faceted life he experienced. The Yellow Christ, a work Gaugin painted just a few years earlier, is one of the key works of Symbolism. It looms over the painter, ignore the abstract rendition next it. It does not take the foreground but it dominates the composition from behind. Painted imminently before his first departure to Tahiti, this work captures a curious moment of an artist contemplating his art while existing inextricably within it.