Flowers and carpet 1881

Paul Gauguin made this oil painting titled "Flowers and Carpet". Looking at this still life, we must consider the complex cross-cultural exchanges taking place in Europe in the late nineteenth century. We can understand this work as shaped by the artist’s knowledge of non-western art. Here, Gauguin arranges oriental textiles in a manner that flattens out the depth of field. By painting from above, he directs our eye across the picture plane, taking inspiration from Japanese prints that were circulating in France at this time. Gauguin was self-consciously challenging the conventions of academic painting, using such references to critique what he saw as the stifling traditions of European art. The painting is now in a private collection. But as historians, we can consult period documents – exhibition reviews, letters and publications - to get a better sense of its place in the cultural and institutional landscape of its time. We learn to see art as enmeshed within a web of social relations.