To Make a Bouquet 1880

Paul Gauguin's "To Make a Bouquet" is an oil painting of a flower arrangement in a room, likely made sometime in the late 19th century. Gauguin's painting has a particular thickness, born from the way that the brushstrokes sit on the canvas. The flowers in the painting are lush, and the texture of the paint almost gives them an added dimension. Gauguin used the expressive qualities of the oil paint medium to add to the sensory experience of viewing a bouquet, such as visual texture and perceived aroma. There’s also a profound sense of the artist's hand. Gauguin was interested in primitivism, and this painting can be understood as a rejection of the mass-produced and industrialized nature of modern life. The flower arrangement is presented as a pure and natural object, untainted by the negative effects of modernity, reflecting the artist’s own desire to escape the drudgery of industrial capitalist society. Looking at the material qualities and the making of this painting allows us to look beyond the surface of the composition, and understand the deeper significance of the artwork.