A little cat 1888

Editor: Here we have Paul Gauguin’s “A Little Cat” from 1888, oil on canvas. The stark black silhouette against the golden hues and simple shapes…it feels almost like a memory or a symbol rather than a straightforward portrait. What catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: Well, I find it endlessly intriguing! It's so much more than a simple cat picture. The flattened perspective, those vibrant orbs looming above the cat – they evoke a dreamlike quality. The limited color palette intensifies the feeling. He reduces forms to their essence. It’s like looking at the world through a very selective, emotional lens. What do those colored spheres mean to you? Editor: That’s interesting… I hadn't considered their dreamlike effect so directly. I thought they might just be simplified, abstract representations of landforms. Hills, maybe? Does this simplification tie into his Symbolist leanings, focusing on essence over detail? Curator: Precisely! It's a symbolic landscape, not a literal one. He wasn’t merely painting what he saw; he was painting what he felt, using color and form to convey emotion and deeper meaning. It anticipates so much of modern art, that move away from pure representation. A leap of faith, really! He is asking viewers to complete the picture with their own imagination and inner vision, rather than documenting observable nature. Editor: It really shifts my understanding seeing it that way. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. It invites you to find what stirs in your own soul when you look at art.