"D'où venons nous Que sommes-nous Où allons-nous (Where Do We come from. What Are We. where Are We Going)"
Paul Gauguin - Oil
+(1)+.JPG "D'où venons nous Que sommes-nous Où allons-nous (Where Do We come from. What Are We. where Are We Going) by Paul Gauguin | Reproductions | Most-Famous-Paintings.com")
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? is one of Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings. Gauguin inscribed the original French title in the upper left corner: D'où Venons Nous / Que Sommes Nous / Où Allons Nous. The inscription the artist wrote on his canvas has no question mark, no dash, and all words are capitalized. In the upper right corner he signed and dated the painting: P. Gauguin / 1897. The painting was created in Tahiti, and is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Gauguin—after vowing that he would commit suicide following this painting's completion, something he had previously attempted—indicated that the painting should be read from right to left, with the three major figure groups illustrating the questions posed in the title. The three women with a child represent the beginning of life
the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of young adulthood
and in the final group, according to the artist, "an old woman approaching death appears reconciled and resigned to her thoughts"
at her feet, "a strange white bird...represents the futility of words." The blue idol in the background apparently represents what Gauguin described as "the Beyond." Of its entirety he said, "I believe that this canvas not only surpasses all my preceding ones, but that I shall never do anything better—or even like it." The painting is an accentuation of Gauguin's trailblazing post-impressionistic style
his art stressed the vivid use of colors and thick brushstrokes, tenets of the impressionists, while it aimed to convey an emotional or expressionistic strength. It emerged in conjunction with other avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, including cubism and fauvism.
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