Paul Gauguin

In early summer of 1883, Paul Gauguin joined artist Camille Pissarro to paint in the French farming village of Osny. Here Gauguin emulates Pissarro’s small, dense strokes (see Farm and Mill at Osny), but he departs from his mentor’s orderliness by experimenting with disorganized marks whose colors sometimes wander from traditional harmonies. The seemingly random heightening of greens, reds, and purples in the foreground hints at his growing rebellion against expectations of realism. Gauguin also skews the motif of the farm, making it uncomfortably featureless and off-balance, anticipating his eventual rejection of the landscape motifs favored by many Impressionists.