Paul Gauguin

Georges Renand, Paris (acquired by 1949)
Soichiro Tominaga, Japan
Acquired from the above in the 1960s by the present owner

Paris, Les Expositions Beaux-Arts et de la Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1934
Paris, Les Orangeries des tuileries, Eugène Carrière et le symbolisme: exposition en l'honneur du centenaire de la naissance d'Eugène Carrière, 1949-50

John Rewald, Gauguin Drawings, New York, 1958, no. 30, illustrated p. 27
Ronald Pickvance, The Drawings of Gauguin, New York, 1970, illustrated pl. 52

Executed on buff colored wove paper, affixed to a mount around perimeter on verso. Left edge is deckled, other edges are cut. Sheet is time darkened and there is a mat stain around the extreme perimeter. Half-inch crease near center of right edge and a small nick to the edge about an inch above this, both well outside of image area. Some pencil marks at extreme corners and the number 16 written in pencil at lower center, all outside the image area. Some scattered spots of foxing and one pinhole to the sheet at left edge near edge's center. A thin surface scuff at extreme lower right of image area and a small stain at upper left corner, otherwise fine. This work is in good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Settling in 1888 with the Pont-Aven group in Brittany allowed Gauguin to experiment with autonomous planes of color in his various images of bucolic subject matter. This proved to be a time which would instigate a remarkable series of images that drifted away from the theme of rural life, propelling him instead to the interdisciplinary avant-garde ideas which were drastically disseminating Paris. Working closely with Vincent van Gogh and Émile Bernard, the latter providing the basis for a Symbolist understanding of art, proved to be the ideal setting for artistic innovation, a “remarkable élan” and “inaugurating a period of stylistic upheaval without precedent” (Daniel Wildenstein, Gauguin. Premier itinéraire d’un sauvage, Catalogue de l’œuvre peint (1873-1888), vol. II, Paris, 2001, p. 539, translated from the French). However, by 1890-91, at the time the present remarkable work Soyez Symboliste - Portrait de Jean Moréas was executed, Gauguin had returned to Paris, and in November 1890 he became a regular attendant of the Symbolist gatherings at the notorious Café Voltaire. There, artists, poets and writers such as Paul Serusier and Charles Morice discussed the idea of a synthesis of the arts—an idea at the core of the Symbolist concerns for art to permeate all aspects of creative output. Gauguin’s encounter with Morice would have an especially significant impact on his life, leading to his introduction to the father of the Symbolist literary credo, Stephane Mallarme, who would similarly influence his artistic practice and indirectly raise funds for Gauguin’s mythical trip to Tahiti.

Offering a glimpse into the relationship between artists and writers at the time, the present work is an exceptional testament to this enriching period in Gauguin’s life. It portrays Jean Moréas, the writer of the Symbolist Manifesto. This radical treatise was published in the newspaper Le Figaro in September 1886, and in it Moréas passionately urged for a quasi-mystical renewal in the fields of poetry and art, legitimizing the new ideology of Symbolism. The present work, Soyez Symboliste - Portrait de Jean Moréas is a drawing executed for a special supplement of the literary journal La Plume which was dedicated to Moréas and published on January 1, 1891. Like a modern saint or martyr, Moréas is depicted surrounded by a cherub, a branch of myrrh and a peacock feather above which a scroll incites one to “be a Symbolist,” to adhere to Symbolist beliefs. This instigation is taken from Moréas’ own words in his manifesto, urging poets and artist to go against Naturalism and the understanding of the physical world and its reality. Rather, he advocated for a return to the world of imagination and dreams, in which the single artist—the seer—is able to underline eternal truths and reveal the an authentic understanding of the world through creative output.