The Call 1902

Paul Gauguin made The Call with oil on canvas, likely in the late 1800s. The earth is reddish-pink, and it looks like he put the paint on in strokes that follow the lay of the land. There are these ghostly white tree trunks, three Tahitian figures and some flowers in the foreground. It is difficult to sympathize with Gauguin, given what we know now about how he behaved towards women and girls in Tahiti. But let's consider his painting process. I imagine him squinting at the light filtering through the trees and trying to capture the mood of this place. The paint isn't too thick, but it's definitely there. The pinkish ground is so vivid and unusual. It makes me wonder if he was trying to capture a feeling more than a literal scene. Look at how the woman is touching the tree, she's curious! Gauguin was inspired by painters like Manet and Degas, and his interest in capturing modern life. But he wanted to go beyond that, to find something more primal and spiritual. All artists are in conversation with one another, inspiring each other's creativity. And, like painting itself, life is full of ambiguity. There's more than one way to interpret it.