Gauguin's Vue d’un jardin, Rouen (1884)

Longtime Portland arts patron Melvin Mark has given the Portland Art Museum an early Gauguin,Vue d’un jardin, Rouen (Garden View, Rouen) in memory of his recently departed wife, Mary. It's an important impressionist acquisition for Oregon's art going public, which has had limited access to any Gauguin works. The painting was exhibited in 2003 at the Portland to Paris exhibition (which also sported another later Brittany era Gauguin, also from a private collection). The work went on display Sunday on the 1st floor of the Jubitz Center for Contemporary art (Mark Building).

Gauguin is one of my favorite artists and interestingly ambitious before he so famously found his way to the south pacific and his most iconic works. In 1884 (same year as PAM's Van Gogh) he was busy trying to ingratiate himself amongst the impressionists (having collected their works etc), then the most vanguard artists at the time (until Gauguin, Van Gogh and Cezanne took that title as the top post impressionists). In 1883 Gauguin had decided to become a professional painter, before that having been a stockbroker with a real talent for art...so considering this is a pretty good painting from that early makes it a bit of a catch. You can see how Gauguin makes even a winter scene look exotic. Thanks to the Marks for making it possible to finally see a Gauguin on a regular basis at the Portland Art Museum (completing the trinity of early works by the major post-impressionists).