Preface by Émile Gauguin. Translated by Van Wyck Brooks.
"The journals reveal his sincere desire to advocate for the same exotic "primitives” he simultaneously admired and grossly fetishized.” –Lee Ann Norman, Brooklyn Rail
Unappreciated in his own lifetime, Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) is now recognized as one of the giants of French postimpressionism and a pioneer of early modernism. A rebel in both art and life, he rejected his bourgeois upbringing and comfortable stockbroker's job to devote his life to painting. Eventually, dismayed by the "hypocrisy of civilization" and in search of a primitive idyll, he left Paris and took up residence in the South Seas, first in Tahiti and, later, in the Marquesas Islands. He would never return to Europe. In the final months of his life, he wrote this witty, revealing autobiographical memoir with the request that it be published upon his death. It first appeared in the original French in 1918, and was translated into English three years later. As his son Émile wrote in the preface, "These journals are an illuminating self-portrait of a unique personality.… They bring sharply into focus for me his goodness, his humor, his insurgent spirit, his clarity of vision, his inordinate hatred of hypocrisy and sham." Wide-ranging and elliptical, these candid reflections reveal Gauguin's thoughts about many subjects, including frank views on his fellow artists back in Paris, his turbulent relationship with Van Gogh and the charms of Polynesian women, while providing glimpses into his often far-from-idyllic life in the islands. This beautiful facsimile reproduces the first American translation of the journals, a rare limited edition privately published in New York in 1921 for a select group of subscribers. With full-page sketches by the artist, these entertaining and enlightening musings give us a unique insight into Gauguin the man and the artist.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Paul Gauguin's Intimate Journals.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Interview
Devon Ivie
Post-impressionist aficionados need to look no further than Gauguin’s journals to better understand the movement.
Brooklyn Rail
Lee Ann Norman
The journals reveal his ...sincere desire to advocate for the same exotic “primitives” he simultaneously admired and grossly fetishized.
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Refreshingly (and perhaps a bit lewdly) titled "Of What Are You Thinking? I Do Not Know," this undated print is reproduced from Paul Gauguin's Intimate Journals,Art / Books' beautifully produced facsimile of a rare English-language edition of the artist's famous journals, privately published for a group of select New York subscribers in 1921. Uncensored, problematic, passionate and above all, truthful, these writings represent the artist's wish, "nakedly, fearlessly, shamelessly, to write… all this," Gauguin wrote in 1903. "It is my right. And the critics cannot prevent it, infamous as it may be." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 7.5 x 10 in. / 192 pgs / 27 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $30.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $45 ISBN: 9781908970459 PUBLISHER: Art / Books AVAILABLE: 6/18/2019 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by Art / Books. Preface by Émile Gauguin. Translated by Van Wyck Brooks.
"The journals reveal his sincere desire to advocate for the same exotic "primitives” he simultaneously admired and grossly fetishized.” –Lee Ann Norman, Brooklyn Rail
Unappreciated in his own lifetime, Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) is now recognized as one of the giants of French postimpressionism and a pioneer of early modernism. A rebel in both art and life, he rejected his bourgeois upbringing and comfortable stockbroker's job to devote his life to painting. Eventually, dismayed by the "hypocrisy of civilization" and in search of a primitive idyll, he left Paris and took up residence in the South Seas, first in Tahiti and, later, in the Marquesas Islands. He would never return to Europe. In the final months of his life, he wrote this witty, revealing autobiographical memoir with the request that it be published upon his death. It first appeared in the original French in 1918, and was translated into English three years later. As his son Émile wrote in the preface, "These journals are an illuminating self-portrait of a unique personality.… They bring sharply into focus for me his goodness, his humor, his insurgent spirit, his clarity of vision, his inordinate hatred of hypocrisy and sham."
Wide-ranging and elliptical, these candid reflections reveal Gauguin's thoughts about many subjects, including frank views on his fellow artists back in Paris, his turbulent relationship with Van Gogh and the charms of Polynesian women, while providing glimpses into his often far-from-idyllic life in the islands. This beautiful facsimile reproduces the first American translation of the journals, a rare limited edition privately published in New York in 1921 for a select group of subscribers. With full-page sketches by the artist, these entertaining and enlightening musings give us a unique insight into Gauguin the man and the artist.
