The Wave ☳ Gauguin ☵ Canvas tronie

The Wave ☳ Gauguin ☵ Canvas tronieThe Wave (1888, La Vague) by Paul Gauguin was painted during a trip to Brittany, France. It characterizes his evolving style from realistic portraits and landscapes to more symbolic representations. The perspective and scale, lack of horizon, and rainbow of color open the scene up to deeper interpretation. Painted from overhead (a bluff overlooking the beach), it depicts the rocks and waves of the ocean, with two beachgoers running in the surf.

with a large cypress on the left

is possibly the artist's wife Caroline Brommer

Light from the diner illuminates a dark and deserted street

I was painting the loneliness of a large city

A Flemish proverb

as the storm clouds transition to a bright blue sky

with Mount Fuji in the background

Van Gogh voluntarily admitted himself to the asylum after the breakdown that resulted in mutilating his left ear

the most expensive blue pigment available in the 17th century

complex iconography

The Adoration of the Magi (1475) by Hieronymus Bosch is an unusual depiction of a popular religious theme

observe the scene underneath a curtain held aloft by angels