Gauguin

London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1991. Revised and Enlarged Edition, Second Impression, 1992 (stated). Wraps. Very good. 126, [2] pages. With 77 illustrations, 48 in color. One of the Publisher's Colour Library series. Cover has slight wear and soiling. Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 - 8 May 1903) was a French post-Impressionist artist. Underappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of color and synthetist style that were distinctly different from Impressionism. His work was influential to the French avant-garde and many modern artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Gauguin's art became popular after his death, partially from the efforts of art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who organized exhibitions of his work late in his career, as well as assisting in organizing two important posthumous exhibitions in Paris. Many of his paintings were in the possession of Russian collector Sergei Shchukin and other important collections. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer. His bold experimentation with color led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art, while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral. He was also an influential proponent of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms. Sir Alan Bowness CBE (born 11 January 1928) is a British art historian and former museum director. Between 1980 and 1988, Bowness was Director of the Tate Gallery, realizing the long-desired expansion of the site at Millbank with the creation of the Clore Wing dedicated to the work of J.M.W. Turner. Bowness was also responsible for the creation of the outpost Tate Liverpool, both projects being achieved through gifts from charitable trusts. At a time when the public grant to the Tate had been capped, Bowness established two supporters groups to fund the purchase of new work and set up the Turner Prize to promote contemporary British artists. His acquisitions for the Tate collection included Surrealist and American artworks. He also set Tate St Ives in motion by fostering links with the Cornish town of St Ives, a location favored by many artists, where he had set up the Barbara Hepworth Museum in 1976. As a curator Bowness' main area of interest was British modern art - he has close personal links with both the Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth families (he is married to Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth's daughter Sarah) - and during his directorship the Tate's temporary programme concentrated on artists from this area. After retiring from the Tate, Bowness was director of the Henry Moore Foundation and set up the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, Yorkshire. He was knighted in the 1988 New Year Honours. He is also an Honorary Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. Art historian Lesley Stevenson has written an informative, clear commentary to accompany each colour plate.This series acts as an introduction to key artists and movements in art history. Each title contains 48 full-page color plates, accompanied by extensive notes, and numerous comparative illustrations in colour or black and white, a concise introduction, select bibliography and detailed source information for the images. Monographs on individual artists also feature a brief chronology.