Pola Gauguin

Pola Gauguin was an artist and art critic who was born in 1884 and grew up in Copenhagen. In 1912 he received Danish citizenship and moved to Norway the same year. He received Norwegian citizenship in 1916. He ran his own painting school in Kristiania from 1917 to 1924, and he was an art critic for various newspapers and magazines in Norway and Denmark in the period 1917 to 1954.

Pola Gauguin was part of the circle around Henrik Lund and Hans Jæger, and he decided to become a painter after being inspired by Norwegian art and late impressionists such as Chr. Krohg, Lund, Karsten, and Folkestad. He painted in a decorative and emotionally expressive style inspired by Impressionism, but he was unable to find a personal style. As a graphic artist, however, he was more successful. He experienced an artistic crisis in the 1920s and searched in vain for renewal through a stay in France.

After his return he was most active as a critic and writer. The National Gallery in Oslo has some of his works, including the painting "From Homansbyen" (1913) and "Murder" (1916), which is a dramatic interior in strong colors and theatrical lighting. The National Gallery also has a large female nude with her back turned (1913) and a couple of small southern French landscapes (1926). Among his woodcuts, Winter Landscape can be highlighted for its characteristic composition.