The Green Christ

The Green Christ
Artist	Paul Gauguin
Year	1889
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	92 cm× 73 cm(36.2 in× 28.7 in)
Location	Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels

The Green Christ (in French: Le Christ vert) is an oil-on-canvas painting executed by Paul Gauguin on November 20, 1889 in Pont-Aven, Brittany. ^[1] It depicts a Breton woman at the foot of a calvary, or green-tinted sculpture of Christ's crucifixion. This image emphasizes both Breton culture and religious symbolism.

Background & cultural context

The calvery at Névez, which inspired the cross in The Green Christ

Gauguin created this work while living in Pont-Aven, Brittany. Topographically, the site depicted is the Atlantic coast at Le Pouldu. But the calvary depicted is an amalgam of several calvaries from different places; the cross is based upon that in the centre of Névez, a community close to Pont-Aven, located several miles from the coast, and the figure of Christ is based upon the calvarie at Briec, also at some distance from the sea. ^{[2] [3] [4]} The Breton people, known for their strong Catholic faith and adherence to traditional customs, inspired Gauguin’s portrayal of their authentic spirituality in The Green Christ.^{[ citation needed ]}

Composition & style

The Green Christ depicts a Breton woman kneeling at the foot of a green crucifix. This woman wears traditional, modest Breton clothing and holds a black lamb in her left hand. ^[1] The statue of Christ, shown after the crucifixion, has an elongated, motionless body supported by the three Marys, whose expressions are somber.

Paul Gauguin,The Yellow Christ, 1886.

Interpretation & symbolism

Rather than striving for realism, Gauguin sought to convey emotionally the condition of human suffering through non-naturalistic form and color. ^{[5] : 283–85}

Other works

• List of paintings by Paul Gauguin

References

1. Dorra, Henri (2007-02-20). The Symbolism of Paul Gauguin: Erotica, Exotica, and the Great Dilemmas of Humanity. Univ of California Press. pp. 131–133. ISBN   978-0-520-24130-5.
2. Dario Gamboni, Paul Gauguin: The Mysterious Centre of Thought, Reaktion Books, 2014, pp. 135, 157, 280, 281
3. Jean-François Staszak, Géographies de Gauguin, Editions Bréal, 2003 (French), ISBN 2749520754, 9782749520759, pp. 47-48
4. Catherine Puget, Peintres de la Bretagne et quête spirituelle, Musée de Pont Aven, 2006 (French), pp. 9, 25, 48
5. Silverman, Debora (2000). Van Gogh and Gauguin : the search for sacred art. Internet Archive. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN   978-0-374-28243-1.