Gaugin @ Tate Modern

Firstly I'm sorry that this is so late, uni and ma application deadlines are narrowing in on me and I feel like my brain is near explosion anyhow before i start to waffle on to the reviews.

Gaugin
This exhibition was recommended to me by my life drawing tutor at The Princes Drawing School, he said and I quote "its definitely worth the time to see not what he can do but what he cannot". This was in response to a crit that he was giving another artists, though at the time of his statement I had no idea of the relevance to our life drawing class or to the. Nevertheless having recently obtained a membership to Tate, I was slightly eager to visit (he is suppose to be a great artist, one whom I had never paid any great attention to previously).  So you will understand that I was ever so slightly apprehensive, but after seeing a documentary on him and watch the below video.

I must say however that I was pleasantly surprised by the vast array of works that Tate had obtained for the exhibitions. It included drawings, paintings and prints using lino and wood block. It was fantastic to see his work progress and I fund it intriguing how you almost felt like you were experiencing the various traumas that befell him throughout his life. Be it through a loveless marriage, struggles for acceptance in the art world or his progressing syphilis. It is also important to know i think in a way that the women who feature heavily in his most popular works were just teenagers, interesting to think that he only felt compatible with someone half his age.

Anyhow the exhibition is fantastic on a whole and definitely worth 1 to 2 hrs of your time, please note that it is extremely popular and thus very busy so book your tickets now as the exhibition ends 16th Jan 2011.