The artwork in question, “By the Stream, Autumn,” was crafted by the renowned artist Paul Gauguin in 1885, at a time when he resided in Paris, France. This oil on canvas reflects the influence of the Impressionism movement, a period marked by a distinct painting style that sought to capture light and its changing qualities, often with an emphasis on movement and the perception of the moment. “By the Stream, Autumn” is a landscape genre painting and, as of the latest information, it is part of a private collection.
In “By the Stream, Autumn,” the artist represents a vibrant autumnal scene characterized by the vivid colors of changing foliage. The central feature of the artwork is a large, golden-hued tree that appears to shimmer with the warm, fiery colors of the season. The foliage’s texture is rendered with visible brushstrokes, which imbue the surface with dynamism and a sense of the painterly process. The tree dominates the composition, with its leaves and branches extending towards the edges of the canvas, suggesting a world beyond the confines of the frame.
A meandering stream cuts through the landscape beneath the tree, leading the viewer’s eye into the depth of the painting. The water’s fluidity provides a serene contrast to the energetic strokes of the leaves and ground. The environment surrounding the stream teems with shades of green, amber, and red, indicative of the deciduous vegetation’s seasonal transformation. Gauguin’s brushwork conveys the lush, damp atmosphere typical of an autumnal landscape and the transient quality of light.
The sky depicted carries overcast hues, which may hint at the onset of colder, grayer weather, typical for the season. The distant trees and shrubs, rendered in less detail, fade into the background, creating a sense of atmospheric perspective. Throughout the artwork, Gauguin’s use of color and texture exemplify his interest in capturing the mood and essence of nature, rather than a strict, detailed representation, which is in alignment with the tenets of the Impressionism movement.
