Gauguin, Paul

Paul Gauguin (Paris, 7 June 1848 - Hiva Oa, 8 May 1903) was a French painter. After early contact with Impressionism, he moved away from naturalistic representation and developed a more abstract pictorial vision based on flat areas of pure color, simplified forms, and the renunciation of conventional perspective and light effects. This language, associated with Synthesism and Cloisonnism, remained central to his art and reached full maturity during his years in the South Seas. His work strongly influenced the Nabis, Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Fauvism, and much of twentieth-century painting.