Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; Reclining Tahitian Women, or The Amusement of the Evil Spirit (Arearea no varua ino), 1894; oil on canvas; 23 5/8 x 38 9/16 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen MIN 1832.

ST. LOUIS—Best known as a painter, Paul Gauguin was an inventive and versatile artist who also created woodcarvings, ceramics and prints. This summer, the Saint Louis Art Museum will celebrate the range of Gauguin’s artistic output from his early Impressionist paintings to his iconic works from Brittany and Tahiti to his fascinating exploration of three-dimensional objects.

Featuring 90 works of art, most from the world’s leading collection of works by the artist, “Paul Gauguin: The Art of Invention” will be the Saint Louis Art Museum’s first exhibition highlighting the exceptional range of the artist’s production. The exhibition opens July 21.

The exhibition will include more than 50 works of art from Copenhagen’s Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, including masterworks like the Impressionist painting “Woman Sewing” and “Tahitian Woman with a Flower,” one of the first pictures Gauguin painted on the island, as well as more than 20 sculptural works that reveal Gauguin’s skill as a ceramicist and wood carver. The exhibition also will include works from the Saint Louis Art Museum’s collection, including prints by Gauguin, as well as Polynesian sculptures and Peruvian ceramics similar to those that inspired the artist. Unique to the exhibition is Gauguin’s manuscript “Modern Thought and Catholicism,” which was given to the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1948 by film star and St. Louis native Vincent Price.

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Catholicism and the Modern Mind”, written 1897–98, transcribed in this form 1902; manuscript with two woodcuts and two transfer drawings on the cover; 12 5/8 x 7 1/16 x 13/16 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Vincent L. Price Jr., in memory of his parents, Marguerite and Vincent L. Price 287:1948

 “The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek holds one of the most comprehensive collections of works by Gauguin, and we are pleased to offer St. Louisans the opportunity to experience a wide range of the artist’s works lent by one of the world’s great museums,” said Brent R. Benjamin, the Barbara B. Taylor Director of the Saint Louis Art Museum.

The exhibition is organized in six themes that express Gauguin’s stylistic shifts and extensive range of materials, and allow the spectator to discover his travels within an increasingly global, 19th-century world.

The first two sections highlight Gauguin’s often overlooked Impressionist paintings and showcase works from the artist’s travels between Paris, regional French towns and Denmark. Examining Gauguin’s interest in the idea of “primitivism” as an alternative to the modern world, the third section follows his travels to Martinique and Brittany, and includes polychrome woodcarvings, hand-modeled ceramics and increasingly abstract paintings.

The fourth and fifth sections focus on Gauguin’s two voyages to Polynesia and illustrate Gauguin’s mature painting style, emphasizing color, simplified forms and decorative patterns. These sections also bring focus to the kinds of local Polynesian art that inspired Gauguin, including Marquesan and Maori sculpture and Samoan tapa cloth. The final section reveals how Gauguin’s fascination with comparative religion culminated in “Modern Thought and Catholicism,” excerpts of which can be viewed on interactive screens in the gallery.

“Paul Gauguin: The Art of Invention” is organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum from the collections of Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, and curated by Simon Kelly, the Saint Louis Art Museum’s curator of modern and contemporary art, with Abigail Yoder, research assistant. 

The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts; and Christie’s.

July 21–September 15, 2019

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Landscape from Brittany with Breton Women”, 1888; oil on canvas; 35 13/16 × 28 3/8 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen EXH36.2.

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Tahitian Woman with a Flower”, 1891; oil on canvas; 27 3/4 × 18 5/16 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen EXH36.4.

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Landscape from Tahiti”, c.1893; oil on canvas; 19 5/16 × 21 1/4 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. 

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “The Queen’s Mill, Østervold”, 1885; oil on canvas; 36 7/16 × 28 7/8 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen EXH36.12.

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Chanteuse”, 1880; wood (mahogany), plaster, paint and gilt; 20 7/8 × 20 7/8 × 5 1/8 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen EXH36.47.

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Portrait-Head of Martinique Woman with Kerchief”, 1887-88; unglazed stoneware decorated with slips; 8 7/8 × 5 1/8 × 6 7/8 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen EXH36.40.

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Sailing Vessel in Moonlight”, 1878; oil on canvas; 21 1/4 × 36 7/16 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen EXH36.22.

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Figures in Garden”, c.1881; oil on canvas; 34 1/4 × 44 7/8 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. On long-term loan from the National Gallery of Denmark EXH36.25.

Paul Gauguin, French, 1848–1903; “Still Life with Flowers”, 1882; oil on canvas; 22 7/16 × 27 9/16 inches; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. On long-term loan from the National Gallery of Denmark.