Paul Gauguin, the Artist

In art, all who have done something other than their predecessors have merited the epithet of revolutionary; and it is they alone who are masters. –Paul Gauguin
Born in Paris, France in 1848, as a youth Gauguin developed a taste for the contemporary avant-garde movement of Impressionism and later studied under Camille Pissarro, struggling at first to master the techniques of painting and drawing. By 1880, though his work was included in Impressionist Exhibitions, his lack of notoriety in the art world, and family disapproval of his new profession, influenced his move to Martinique where his works soon departed from Impressionist technique, as he now worked with blocks of color in large, unmodulated planes, seeking a “primitive” expression of spiritual and emotional states in his work. In 1888, Gauguin coined the term “Synthetism” to describe this style, considered “Post-Impressionist , and symbolist. In time Gauguin became disgusted with Western conventions and accepted a grant to create art in Tahiti, but was disappointed to find that the French colonization had corrupted its authentic culture. This spawned a new era of art including depicting scenes of ocean iconography and idyllic landscapes. Eventually, Gauguin moved to the even more remote island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas where he died in 1903. Gauguin’s immense legacy rests partly in his dramatic decision to reject the materialism of contemporary culture in favor of a more spiritual, unfettered lifestyle which inspired a whole generation of artists, including Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso and helped open the door to the development of 20th-century art.
Krone's tribute to Gauguin is available in a worldwide Limited Edition of 188 Fountain Pens and 18 Rollerballs, each painstakingly hand-painted over mother-of pearl. The piston-fill Fountain Pen is enhanced with an 18kt gold nib available in M, F or B width.