Martinique Landscape 1887

Paul Gauguin painted this canvas, *Martinique Landscape*, during his brief stay on the Caribbean island. The painting bursts with vibrant greens, reds and yellows, a visual feast that almost overwhelms the senses, evoking the lushness of the tropics. Gauguin’s use of colour serves not just as a representation, but as a structural element. Notice how the path in the foreground, rendered in striking reds and pinks, leads the eye into the composition. The artist employs bold brushstrokes, breaking from traditional representation to instead emphasize the materiality of the paint itself. This approach aligns with a broader artistic movement towards abstraction and the rejection of academic naturalism. The flattened perspective and simplified forms challenge conventional notions of depth and space. Gauguin seems less interested in capturing a realistic scene than in constructing a visual experience through colour and form. The painting invites us to question the relationship between representation and reality, pushing us towards a deeper appreciation of art as a constructed, rather than mimetic, experience.