Portrait of a little boy 1888

Curator: Let's take a look at Gauguin's "Portrait of a Little Boy," painted in 1888. It’s currently housed at the Bemberg Foundation in Toulouse. What strikes you immediately? Editor: The colors! They’re unexpectedly muted. I’m drawn to the somewhat melancholic gaze; those eyes are rather arresting and haunting at the same time. I wonder what lies behind it, if you catch my meaning? Curator: Absolutely. Given Gauguin's later interests, we might read it through a lens of seeking innocence amidst the complexities of civilization, an ambivalence regarding the European cultural milieu and its impacts on individuals at a young age, in this instance. This was during a time when children were beginning to have a more individualized identity within the bourgeois class, one in which youth had a certain market appeal. Editor: The averted gaze definitely lends itself to that. And considering Gauguin’s later preoccupation with the exotic and the search for simpler truths, it resonates even more. Those flattened planes almost feel like he's already moving away from the impressionistic style he began in and toward the synthetism of his later work. What cultural cues might hint to what his life will become, as well as how we have re-imagined such exotic places to ourselves over time. Curator: I would add that this period shows Gauguin at a point where he’s exploring these nascent notions of primitivism in his portraits—a return to simpler forms and colors. We have to remember too, that it all takes place within an expanding art market and global art fairs, giving audiences ever broader access to ideas and the marketing of such ideas. Editor: The painting's muted colors – ochres and blues and pinks - almost feel at odds with the usual impressionistic brightness we tend to associate with that era. Even in portraiture there seems to be some level of detachment here. Perhaps we should let the audience meditate on it a moment longer... Curator: A telling piece, marking a significant shift in Gauguin's approach and offering insight into broader cultural shifts. Editor: Indeed, this glimpse into Gauguin’s changing worldview through this boy’s watchful eyes leaves us with plenty to contemplate.