In the Heat (The Pigs) 1888

Editor: Here we have Paul Gauguin’s "In the Heat (The Pigs)," created in 1888. It looks like an oil painting. My first impression is how the colours seem almost to vibrate with a strange energy. What do you make of this work, particularly how Gauguin portrays the, shall we say, *pigs*? Curator: Ah, the pigs! Or are they just… pink mounds basking in the sun? Gauguin was never one for simple representation, was he? Look how he uses colour – those almost clashing greens, yellows, blues. He's less interested in showing us *what* a pig is, and more in conveying the *feeling* of heat, of laziness, of a certain…animalistic joie de vivre, perhaps? The way the brushstrokes almost dissolve the forms. Doesn’t it almost tickle your senses? Like you can smell the earth baking? Editor: Absolutely! It's almost like a dreamscape, not quite grounded in reality. Do you think there's a symbolic aspect to it? Beyond just pigs being pigs? Curator: Symbolic… well, that’s the magic isn’t it? We want a clean "this *means* that", but I don’t think Gauguin gives us that kind of comfort. Maybe the pigs represent a return to a simpler, more natural way of life, something he was actively searching for, a world away from Parisian sophistication. Then again, maybe he just liked the way the light hit those curvy, mud-covered forms. Which answer do you prefer? Editor: I think I prefer the ambiguity, the mystery! It keeps you thinking. Curator: Indeed! That's Gauguin for you. Always just out of reach. Editor: I'll definitely look at his work differently now. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure!