GAUGUIN, Paul
(b. 1848, Paris, d. 1903, Atuona, Hiva Oa, French Polynesia)

Christ in the Garden of Olives

1889
Oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida

Gauguin has returned to a scene from Christ's Passion, chronologically preceding that of the Green Christ and the Yellow Christ, in which his isolation and impending martyrdom are made apparent by the gloomy tonality against which his flaming hair glows, and by an all-encompassing landscape which heightens the sense of alienation. Once again, the identification of the artist with Christ is too overt to be overlooked.