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Lesson Plans—Works of Art
Object Descriptions and Suggested Discussion Questions

Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903) The Player Schneklud, 1894 Oil on canvas The Baltimore Museum of Art: Given by Hilda K. Blaustein, in memory of her late husband, Jacob Blaustein BMA 1979.163

Paul Gauguin lived a varied life before becoming an artist. His mother was from Peru, where they lived for a time during his youth. He later joined the French navy and then worked in Paris as a stockbroker. Gauguin was more drawn to art than to making money, and he eventually abandoned his middle-class life in the financial world for the difficult existence of an avant-garde artist. He traveled extensively in search of subjects to paint and struggled financially. Frustrated by his extended absences, his Danish wife returned to Denmark with their children. He rarely saw her or his children afterward.

Gauguin was eight years younger than Monet and five years older than his friend Van Gogh. When Gauguin decided to pursue painting seriously, he was attracted to the modern style and brilliant color of Monet’s impressionism as well as the dynamic composition of Japanese prints. From the impressionists he learned that an artist could create a unique vision by exaggerating selected details rather than faithfully depicting the whole scene. Gauguin developed his personal style based on flattening forms and using large areas of bright color.

Gauguin is most famous for his paintings of exotic Tahiti in the South Pacific, but he painted The Player Schneklud between travels. He rented a room in Paris in 1894, painted the walls yellow and green to remind himself of Tahiti and used it as a painting studio. He had a circle of artistic friends who used to gather there to discuss the world of art and life in general. One of them was a Swedish cellist named Fritz Schneklud, whom we meet in this portrait. Schneklud is shown seated with his cello. The artist’s use of flattened forms makes the subject’s pose seem static rather than fluid. Gauguin creates movement by contrasting complementary colors to intensify the composition. Schneklud’s orange cello seems very bright against his blue suit. The colorful shapes in the background that resemble flowers or fruits increase the decorative effects of the composition.

Some viewers have taken this painting for a portrait of the artist. His hair was similar to Schneklud’s, and Gauguin painted his own self-portrait with a moustache. A look at one of his self-portraits will help you to decide how much Gauguin may have put himself into this portrait.

Suggested Discussion Questions

• Which area of the composition catches your eye first? Why?
• Gauguin and Van Gogh sometimes painted the same scene side by side, but their personal styles were different enough that the pairs of paintings are very different. Describe how this portrait would look painted by Van Gogh, Monet or Matisse.
• Some great artists are as famous for their interesting lives as for their work. Discuss any biographical facts you have learned from movies or other popular sources about an avant-garde artist of the School of Paris. Are you familiar with Gauguin, Van Gogh or Toulouse-Lautrec?