In the Waves
This conversation is connected to In the Waves.
A striking, flattened composition dominated by intense color contrasts. A female figure, seen from behind, plunges into a turbulent sea. Her vivid, unshaded bright red hair sharply contrasts with the deep emerald green of the swirling water. The waves are outlined with stylized, rhythmic crests of pale white and seafoam green, drawing heavily from the aesthetic of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Painted in 1889 during his time in Brittany, Paul Gauguin employs his Synthetist style here—rejecting realistic shading and perspective in favor of bold, flat areas of unmixed color and strong contours to evoke raw, elemental energy.