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4/7/2005

Paul Gauguin

Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture, Edinburgh

Vision

curated by Belinda Thomson

Vision of the Sermon is today one of the best-known and most widely-reproduced paintings in the world. This bold, stylised work with its provocative religious theme marks a turning point in the history of art. It depicts the 'vision' of devout Breton women who literally 'see' the biblical story of 'Jacob wrestling with the angel' which has formed the subject of a sermon just preached to them by their priest. The picture is truly 'visionary' and is the first undisputed masterpiece by the great Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin. It will be the centrepiece of the National Gallery of Scotland's major summer exhibition which will open at the recently refurbished Royal Scottish Academy Building this July.

This innovatory exhibition, the first to examine this work in detail, will bring together eighty-four stunning works by Gauguin himself, his immediate mentors such as the Impressionists Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro, artists whom he admired such as Paul Cézanne and Gustave Moreau, and his younger contemporaries and followers, including Emile Bernard, Louis Anquetin, Paul Sérusier and Maurice Denis. Drawing on loans from prestigious public and private collections around the world, the exhibition will offer the viewer an unrepeatable chance to understand Vision of the Sermon in a rich and intimate context, exploring the biographical, pictorial and cultural circumstances that enabled Gauguin to make such a radical statement in paint in 1888. The exhibition will contain a full range of objects from paintings to drawings, fans, book illustrations and letters, as well as ceramics and furniture.

For Gauguin, Brittany, the setting of the painting, was a step on the road to more extreme artistic tourism which culminated in his work in the South Pacific. The exhibition will investigate the particular attractions of Brittany for artists of the early modern age, their desire to reconnect with the rugged peninsular and the seemingly primitive and pious life of the Celtic fringe. This Breton theme is explored in popular religious prints, books and photographs and in paintings intended for the broad public who attended the annual Paris Salon exhibitions. Several fascinating items of period Breton costume will be lent to the exhibition from the Musée de Pont-Aven in Brittany.

The exhibition features other sources that influenced Gauguin in this painting - for instance children's book illustrations and Japanese prints. At the same time it explores various visual prompts for the painting's wrestling theme, from scenes of Breton wrestling to earlier and later artistic interpretations of its biblical subject, Jacob and the Angel.

Gauguin originally intended Vision of the Sermon for a church setting, and was disappointed, although not surprised, when his offer was turned down by the incumbent priests in Pont-Aven and nearby Nizon. He then sent it to be exhibited and sold in Paris. Known for years as Vision after the Sermon, the title used in the exhibition, Vision of the Sermon, is the one Gauguin gave his composition when he first exhibited it in Brussels in 1889. Admired by the artistic avant-garde but still unsold in early 1891 when Gauguin's dealer, Theo van Gogh, died, it was included in an auction to raise money for the artist's long-planned voyage to the South Seas. A cheer went up in the sale room when an artist named Meilheurat des Pruraux paid 900 francs for the painting, the biggest price at the auction. In 1911-12 it was sold again, and shown in its current baroque frame at the Stafford Gallery in London before entering the collection of its next owner, the great British educationalist, Sir Michael Sadler. From Sadler it was purchased by the Trustees of the National Gallery of Scotland in 1925, a major coup and an audacious purchase for any large institution at that time for most British institutions were still very conservative in their picture-buying. It was a gamble that paid off, however, and the picture's presence in the National Gallery of Scotland enhances Scotland's importance for art enthusiasts the world over.

Belinda Thomson, exhibition curator, commented: "Having studied Gauguin for some thirty years, it has been a great privilege to work on this extraordinary painting and shape an exhibition around it. It will be thrilling to see the show come together. At the same time there is a major sense of responsibility involved in opening up for broader public debate issues that have for so long occupied art historians for over a century!"

Alex Callander, Joint Senior Partner and Chief Executive of Baillie Gifford, said: "At Baillie Gifford, a primary aim is to be one of the world's leading investment management firms. We are also proud of our long-standing sponsorship of the arts in Scotland. Thus, we are delighted to be sponsoring the "Gauguin's Vision" exhibition, which focuses on one of the world's great paintings, and brings together works by some of the world's finest artists in a world class venue."

Image. Paul Gauguin, The Vision after the Sermon (Jacob and the Angel), 1888.

The show will be accompanied by a fully illustrated, accessible catalogue incorporating a study of the painting's diverse sources, its exhibition history and critical reception, the history of its ownership and its legacy as a cause célèbre of art historical debate. Appealing to a general audience as well as scholars of the period, this re-examination of Vision of the Sermon will throw the spotlight on one of the most intriguing works in the National Gallery of Scotland: price £19.95. A smaller, souvenir catalogue will also be available: price £7.95.

Sponsored by Baillie Gifford

Press view: Tuesday 5 July, 11.30am-1pm

The Royal Scottish Academy Building
The Mound, Edinburgh
Admission £6.50 (concessions £4.50); under 12s enter for free Sponsored by Baillie Gifford

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