Year: 1889
Movement: Symbolist
Location: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
The symbolism movement sought to reflect emotions and ideas rather than reflect the natural world. This means that they used metaphors and symbols rather than realistic imagery to communicate with the viewer. Most Symbolists painted in wide strokes of unmodulated color to fashion flat and abstract figures and forms. With Le Christ Jaune (The Yellow Christ) Gauguin used a representation of a 17th-century painted crucifix that hung in the Trémalo Chapel. The subject of the painting was actually the peasants kneeling before the crucifix. Gauguin wanted to portray the isolation and piety of the local peasantry in Pont-Aven France where he was visiting.
