Paul Gauguin - Flutist on the cliffs 1889

Flutist on the cliffs 1889
Flutist on the cliffs
1889 27x35cm oil/canvas
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

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From Indianapolis Museum of Art:
In 1889 Gauguin worked in the village of Le Pouldu. There he created this dizzying panorama, recording the site's craggy cliffs and the waves breaking on the beach. At right are a girl with her scythe and a boy playing a flageolet, or flute - symbols of the artist's attachment to the harmonies of Breton life.
Yet Gauguin also altered the view to suit his imagination, boldly pairing near and far, steep and flat to create a complex surface pattern. And where has he placed the viewer-hovering perilously over the abyss?