Should Paul Gaugin’s World be exhibited at the The National Gallery of Australia?
Paul Gauguin was a famous French Post-Impressionist artist from the late 1880s.
In late June, The National Gallery of Australia premiered ‘Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao’, an exhibition offering new perspectives on Gauguin’s life and work, his artistic influences and networks, as well as his historical impact and contemporary legacies.
So, what’s the controversy behind that? Paul Gauguin was also a violent paedophile, who called the Polynesian people he painted “savages” and fathered multiple children with his adolescent companions.
Which begs the question, “can bad people create good art?” “should a national art museum be promoting his work?”
The National Gallery will explore Gauguin’s life, art and controversial legacy through talks, public programs, a podcast series and films.
The University of Australia’s emeritus professor, senior art critic for The Canberra Times over the past forty-six years, and an author with over twenty-five published books, Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA joins Danae Gibson on Artbeat to discuss.
The exhibition will be displayed in Canberra at The National Gallery of Australia until October, 7.
(Paul Gauguin, Femmes de Tahiti 1891, oil on canvas, 69.0 x 91.5, Don Countess Vitali, 1923. © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt)
