Paul Gauguin Biography

Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin, better known as Paul Gauguin, was a leading French artist of the Symbolist art movement of the early 20th century. As a Post Impressionist artist who was also a sculptor, print-maker, and writer, he gained significance only after his death. His works were largely unrecognized during his lifetime. He was known to experiment with bold colours and exaggerated body proportions which in a way led to the Synthetist style of modern art. He also played an important role in the cloisonnist style of art which paved the way for Primitivism. He once had a large family and worked as a stockbroker to support them. However, such great was his passion for painting that he abandoned both his family and profession to focus on his artistic longings. He traveled and lived in many countries over his lifetime - during his later years he went to Tahiti where he experimented with his painting and also indulged in several sexual exploits with the local girls. He was a colourful character known for his love of an unconventional life. He drank to the excess and was a compulsive womanizer. His weaknesses ultimately caused his downfall and he died of syphilis when he was just 54 years of age.