In every assignment that Gauguin undertook, he desired to achieve an emotional and spiritual state by going beyond nature. In one of his famous painting, "the call," he demonstrated his styles as a post-impressionist, synthetic and symbolist. The Call stands out among Gauguin's best painting in 1902, one year before his death. This artwork is currently situated at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, OH. During this work, Gauguin derived his inspiration from the French Polynesian and used an overall simplification in the subject matter.
The call brought forth firmly Gauguin post-impressionist by demonstrating his prowess in bold brushstroke and colours. Nonetheless, he added wax to this paint to give it an extra flow. Also, with the help of thin paint, he could easily shape and strengthen all the shapes. Furthermore, in this work, he abandons imitative art by intensely exaggerating it with bright colours. However, he ensured he employed a combination of heavy and dark colours to illustrate the landscape. These skills positioned him as one of the powerful influencers of modern art who lived in the 20th century.
The call is one of the masterpieces among Gauguin's many series to explore life and death's mysteries. In the images of this painting, he uses a more luxuriant and well-orchestrated tonal harmony inherently. The figures of two females who are standing bare feet demonstrates his artistic oeuvre. Also, the use of the two beautiful women is symbolic. It demonstrates Gauguin's praise and love for Polynesian beauty. Behind these two beautiful women who stand bare feet, there is a symbolic figure of his best friend from Paris, Meyer De Hann, a poet. Because of his dreamlike and mysterious images, one woman lifts her hand as she responds to a person outside the picture.
Gauguin urges to paint the call was mainly driven by the desire to coming up with a painting that was susceptible to literary ideas. In the process, he was torn between painting what was in his mind and the image that lay before him. Nonetheless, his creativity and artistic experiments contributed immensely to the growth of modern art.
