Portrait of a Man

Gauguin's portrait of 1888 shows his engagement with Post-Impressionist character analysis at a moment when he was developing his theory that color and line could express inner psychological states rather than merely describe surfaces. Gauguin abandoned a successful Parisian stockbroker career to pursue art, ultimately leaving Western civilization altogether in search of what he called 'primitive' authenticity, first in Brittany and then in Tahiti. His rejection of academic naturalism in favor of symbolic color and simplified form was foundational to Symbolism, Fauvism, and Expressionism.

Gauguin applied paint in broad, flat areas of strong color bounded by firm contour lines — a technique he called Synthetism, derived partly from medieval stained glass and Japanese prints. His palette is deliberately non-naturalistic, using vivid magentas, ochres.