The artwork “Coastal landscape” by Paul Gauguin is an exquisite example of the Post-Impressionist movement, created in 1886 at Pont-Aven, France. Measuring 71 x 92 cm, this oil on canvas genre piece typifies landscape art and is presently housed in the Gothenburg Museum of Art in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The artwork captures a serene coastal scene marked by a dynamic interplay of colors and brushwork. The foreground features a vast, craggy coastline to the right, rendered in warm tones of orange and red, suggesting the presence of sunlight casting its glow on the rocks. The middle-ground consists of tumultuous waves breaking along the shore, hinting at the ceaseless energy of the sea. In the distance, a calm sea under the sky stretches toward the horizon, punctuated by dark, isolated rock formations that stand resolute against the forces of nature.
The sky dominates a significant portion of the canvas, a sweeping expanse suggesting the transitional time of either dawn or dusk with its subdued purples, pinks, and variations of blues intermingled with the gentle warmth of fading light. The brushstrokes are loose and expressive, in the manner characteristic of Post-Impressionism, where the emphasis is on the artist’s subjective vision of the scene rather than a direct mirroring of reality. The horizon line softly merges land and sky, contributing a sense of continuity and contributing to the artwork’s overall tranquil atmosphere. Gauguin’s signature at the bottom right corner of the work affirms his authorship of this atmospheric landscape.
