Paul Gauguin - Clovis Asleep [1884]

Enigmatic and beguiling, Clovis Asleep marks a crucial moment in the development of Paul Gauguin’s unique and richly layered idiom. Painted in 1884, the work was transformative, foreshadowing the radical course the artist had started to chart. Moving away from the en plein air landscapes that had thus far dominated his œuvre, Gauguin, in the present work, explored the nascent threads of what would later be termed Symbolism. Set against a twilight blue ground, Clovis, the artist’s favourite child, is fast asleep. A doll lying on the table nearby serves as a companion for the slumbering boy as a large tankard looms overhead. Everything is dreamlike and spectacular. On loan to the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, since 2008, Clovis Asleep is an art of and for the senses.

 

[Christie’s, London - Oil on canvas, 46 x 55.5 cm]

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