Who painted the picture and you are jealous. “Oh, are you jealous?”: the story of one painting by Paul Gauguin

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But a special place for him was the island of Tahiti - the land of “ecstasy, tranquility and art”, which became a second home for the artist. It is here that he writes his most outstanding works, one of which is “Oh, are you jealous?” - deserves special attention.

Tahiti, French Polynesia. The house where Gauguin lived

Paul Gauguin first arrived in Tahiti in 1891. He hoped to find here the embodiment of his dream of a golden age, of life in harmony with nature and people. The port of Papeete that met him disappointed the artist: the unremarkable town, the cold reception of the local colonists, the lack of orders for portraits forced him to look for a new refuge. Gauguin spent about two years in the native village of Mataiea; this was one of the most fruitful periods in his work: in 2 years he painted about 80 canvases. 1893-1895 he spends time in France and then leaves again for Oceania, never to return.

Paul Gauguin Museum in Tahiti

Gauguin always spoke of Tahiti with particular warmth: “I was captivated by this land and its people, simple, not spoiled by civilization. To create something new, we must turn to our origins, to the childhood of humanity. Eva, whom I choose is almost an animal, so she remains chaste, even naked. All the Venuses exhibited at the Salon look indecent, disgustingly lustful...” Gauguin never tired of admiring Tahitian women, their seriousness and simplicity, majesty and spontaneity, unusual beauty and natural charm. He wrote them on all his canvases.

Paul Gauguin. Tahitian women on the beach, 1891

Painting “Oh, are you jealous?” was written during Gauguin's first stay in Tahiti, in 1892. It was during this period of creativity that an extraordinary harmony of color and shapes appeared in his style. Starting from an ordinary plot, observed in the everyday life of Tahitian women, the artist creates real masterpieces in which color becomes the main carrier of symbolic content. Critic Paul Delaroche wrote: “If Gauguin, representing jealousy, does it through pink and purple, then it seems that all of nature takes part in it.”

Paul Gauguin

The artist explained his creative style during this period as follows: “I take as a pretext any theme borrowed from life or nature, and, despite the placement of lines and colors, I get a symphony and harmony that does not represent anything completely real in the exact meaning of the word...” Gauguin denied the reality that the realists wrote - he created a different one.

Paul Gauguin

The plot of the film “Are you jealous?” also seen in the everyday life of Tahitian women: aboriginal sisters, after swimming, bask on the shore and talk about love. One of the memories suddenly makes one of the sisters jealous, which made the second suddenly sit down on the sand and exclaim: “Oh, you’re jealous!” The artist wrote these words in the lower left corner of the canvas, reproducing Tahitian speech in Latin letters. From this random episode of someone else's life a masterpiece of art was born.

Paul Gauguin's grave at Atuona Cemetery in the Marquesas Islands

Both girls depicted in the painting are naked, but in their nakedness, despite the sensual poses, there is nothing shameful, strange, erotic or vulgar. Their nudity is as natural as the unusually vibrant exotic nature around them. According to European canons of beauty, they can hardly be called attractive, but to Gauguin they seem beautiful, and he fully manages to capture his emotional state on canvas.

I wanted to win the right to be dear*... And although my strength was meager*, the car was started. The public doesn’t owe me anything, my paintings are only relatively good, but the artists who use this freedom owe me something…” - this is how Paul Gauguin summed up the significance of his works.

His path to art* was long and difficult. By the age of 35, Gauguin abandoned his modest but fairly wealthy life, gave up his career on the stock exchange and left his family in order to devote himself entirely to art. He went through the stage of impressionism and was disappointed* with this direction*. He dreamed of creating a new art, free from conventions* European civilization, “primitive”* art with bright combinations of colors, “primitive” forms and composition, which would be originally beautiful in its purity* and naivety*.

In 1891, Paul Gauguin went to Tahiti in the hope of finding a new source of inspiration and was overwhelmed* by the exotic beauty of this land. Gauguin's style acquired a new harmony. In bright* intense colors, the artist expressed the fascination of this exotic beauty, the embodiment of heaven on earth. He carefully studied this new world for Europeans, its history and culture.

But reality did not allow Gauguin to live up to his expectations. Illness and need forced the artist to return to Paris, where the same misunderstanding awaited him. The public did not understand or appreciate the works painted in Tahiti; auctions of his paintings did not bring in any income. After the master received a small inheritance, he left France again, this time forever. The artist went to Polynesia, where he died.

Paul Gauguin in world art

If we talk about the significance of Gauguin in world art, we should remember that

– Paul Gauguin became the first European artist, who turned* to the traditions of primitive art in order to revive simplicity and naivety in painting;

– It was Gauguin who discovered the expressive power of non-European cultures to the masters of the 20th century;

– Planar* forms, vibrant* colors and decorative compositions – all these finds* served as starting points* for creative* experiments for future generations of French (and not only) artists.

Paul Gauguin. “Cafe in Arles”

“Cafe in Arles” 1888 The painting was painted during the period when Gauguin worked in Arles with Van Gogh.
In the foreground is the wife of the cafe owner, and the regulars of the establishment are in the background. Many faces are recognizable, for example, a man with a beard and a cap is a postman who repeatedly served as a model for Van Gogh’s paintings. On the left in a red beret is a zouave, that is, a soldier of the French colonial army, who spent a lot of time in this cafe, talking about democracy.

Paul Gauguin. “Cafe in Arles”

As Gauguin writes the painting:
– the woman’s gaze is directed inward. And at the same time, she hears the conversations of visitors. All these stories are very familiar, she hears them without listening. To emphasize this impression, Gauguin depicts the cigarette smoke behind her as a kind of curtain, a curtain. He separates the madam from the regulars of the establishment;
– the painting tends to turn into a decorative canvas
– there is a mismatch of perspectives here, the legs of the billiard table are painted in a completely different perspective than the cafe hall. The cat in the picture is also an element, a figure of a decorative canvas.

Paul Gauguin. Self-portrait

Self-portraits occupy a special place in Gauguin's work. His artistic credo* asserts* that the artist must be a prophet. And this credo appears with particular clarity* in the master’s works. It seems logical that Gauguin depicts himself against the background of his works.

The background in the form of the master’s own paintings helps to date the painting quite accurately. The painting in the background was painted in 1889, so the self-portrait clearly appeared later. Here Gauguin is about 41 years old.

Paul Gauguin “Oh, are you jealous?”

"Are you jealous?" 1892 One of the master's first works, written during his first visit to Tahiti. Things from the first visit are brighter, more powerful, and more festive. The fact is that Gauguin expected and hoped for triumphant return in Paris.
In this work, Gauguin used a specific motif, later described in his diary as Noa Noa, where the poetic name was translated as Fragrant Earth*. “Two sisters on the shore - they have just swam and are now resting on the sand, their bodies are depicted in sensual * poses.

They discuss yesterday's love and the one that will come tomorrow. And one remark provokes * disharmony * - “Oh, are you jealous?” The artist wrote these words on the extreme left corner of the page, reproducing* Tahitian speech in Latin letters. He attached great importance to this painting. “I painted a magnificent picture of nudes recently, two women on the beach, which I think is the best I have ever done,” he wrote to a friend in 1892.

Paul Gauguin “Her name was Vairaumati”

“Her name was Vairaumati” . 1892
The painting reflects Gauguin's interest in the legends and myths of Polynesia. It depicts the story of the beautiful Vairaumati, who became the wife of the god Oro. (Oro is a Thai God. He really wanted to marry earthly woman, I searched for a long time, but could not find a suitable one. And when I was completely desperate, I finally met Vairaumati. Together, Oro and Vairaumati founded a new tribe, the Ari-Oi.)

When you look at the canvas, you think that Vaiyarumati is a girl, she sits proudly on a throne, against the backdrop of tropical fruits. But an attentive eye notices a cigarette in her hand, that is, she cannot be Vairaumati. Then, looking at the composition, in the background behind the blue stones you notice two figures of idols - these are Oro and Vairaumati. And in the foreground there is only an interpretation old legend. But what's important here:

– the girl’s tense pose is reminiscent of one of the Egyptian reliefs. Gauguin took photographs of Egyptian antiques with him to the island and often used them in his works;

– the picture has an expressive color. Gauguin liked to call the line in his painting an arabesque. He said that music affects the listener in the same way that painting should. Music doesn't explain anything, but it instills certain emotions in you. The line - arabesque - should do the same.

Paul Gauguin “Queen. King's wife"

"The Queen, the King's Wife" . 1896.
This picture is one of the most important works, created in the artist's second Tahitian period.
Gauguin openly polemicizes with European artistic traditions - the girl’s pose echoes* Manet’s composition “Olympia” and Titian’s “Venus,” but here the master clearly simplifies the forms.

The beautiful girl was identified by experts as the artist’s Tahitian wife, 13-year-old Tekhaura. She is depicted in a pose of calm majesty* among fragrant fruits*. In the background, the artist depicts the tree of knowledge with a snake, the tree of good and evil. Behind a tree, two adult figures are talking. The girl plucks* the fruits of knowledge and all these allegories* can be simply read: we see the beautiful Tahitian Eve from the earthly paradise.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like this with such power and such an impressive aura around me. The trees are in bloom, a dog is on guard, and two doves are cooing to the right*. But what's the point* in sending this painting to Paris when there are already a lot of unsold paintings there that have caused so much fuss*. This picture will only attract even more fuss*,” Gauguin admitted in a letter to a friend in 1896.

Paul Gauguin. “Tahiti is a beautiful coastline. Fruit picking"

“Tahiti is a beautiful coastline. Fruit picking"
Programmatic work of the last few years of Gauguin's life.
First of all, the choice of background color is important here - bright yellow, which is associated with the hot climate of Tahiti. And it also resembles the golden background of religious paintings - icons, mosaic compositions. With this background, the picture resembles a piece of a large frieze.

Secondly, the picture can be divided into two parts, in semantic meaning. On the left side are shown female figures with flowers and fruits in hands. They symbolize the Garden of Eden before the Fall*. The right part with a horseman and a sleeping dog and puppies is deciphered * as the land where birth and death triumph. In the middle there is a figure in a long robe picking fruit, reminiscent of temptation and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gauguin deliberately, philosophically places this figure in the middle. This is the history and destiny of humanity.

The word “Ruperupe” written in the lower left corner is taken from the island's popular song: “Oh Tahiti, fair land.”
The canvas is so philosophical that it can be called “Who are we? Where are we from? Where are we going?"

Paul Gauguin. “Great Buddha”

“Great Buddha” 1899
Subject of the painting - At the bottom of the seated idol there are two small figures facing each other. Thus, Tahitian reliefs often depict a dialogue between the local gods Nin and Tefato about fate human race who is sentenced to death.

Gauguin repeats this motif in the figures of two vacationing Tahitians. The figure on the left symbolizes the Tahitian goddess of the Moon and Eternity* Nina. Next to her is Tefato, the god of Earth and death.

At the feet lies a dog feeding puppies, a symbol of life continuing, but already sentenced to death.

Gauguin's concept in art was built* on the idea of ​​internal unification* of all world religions. That is why he connects* the Buddha and the scene of the Last Supper, which appears as a vision in the far corner against the wall of a Tahitian house.

Paul Gauguin. “Escape (Ford)”

Escape (Ford)
Stunning color item. In the picture we see a naked female figure on a white horse, like a kind of guide, and a male figure on a dark horse. On the one hand - an ordinary Tahitian scene, but pay attention - this naked man on a horse feeds meat to a vulture*. The vulture is a symbol of death, which means it is a guide* to the kingdom of death, and it is clear that this is a river of oblivion* that separates two worlds: the world of the living and the world of the dead.

All things in the museum come from the collection of S. Shchukin. He plunged into Gauguin's tropical dreams after a series of tragedies in the family - the death of his son and the death of his wife. He bought Gauguin’s things one after another and seemed to go with Gauguin to this tropical paradise and immerse himself in meditation.

He hung these paintings in his house himself - it was a continuous hanging, the paintings were placed close to each other. And according to the testimony of contemporaries, they formed the Gauguin iconostasis, which was associated both with the sacred meaning of Gauguin’s work and with the Russian tradition of arranging icons.

Based on lectures from the Pushkin Museum. Lecturers: I. Fetisov, V. Tyazhlov

Dictionary of the guide-translator

To help English-speaking guides, I provide a small dictionary of some words, in the text they are indicated by asterisks, in the order they appear in the text

dear - darling
meager – meagre- 2. insufficient, meager, scarcity – lack, lack
summarize – summ up
path (to art) – path
modest – moderate
secured – affluent
disappointed - disillusioned
direction – trend
conventions
primitive – savage
purity
naivety
overcrowded - overwhelmed
bright – vivid
turn - to turn
flat forms
alive – vivid
finds
starting points – point for depature
creative – creative
she hears them without listening - she listens and does not seem to hear it
assert
credo - credo
clarity - clarity
Fragrant Land – Fragrant Land
sensual – voluptuous
provokes – provoks
disharmony – discord
reproduce – reproduce
naked – nude
echo – echo
calm majesty – serene majesty
fragrant fruits – fragrant vegetation
tear down - take down
allegories
The trees are in bloom, the dog is on guard, and the two doves cooing on the right – The tress in blossom, the dog on guard, and the two doves cooing on the right
what's the point - what the point
turmoil, bustle – rumpus
the Fall
decipher – stands for
at the bottom – on the bosom of
Eternity – Eternity
built on – based on
unity
connects – joins
griffin
guide
river of oblivion – Lethe – Lethe