The Talisman
1888
Painted on a tiny cigar box lid in 1888, this vibrant landscape looks more like a fever dream of color than a realistic forest scene. Paul Gauguin actually guided Paul Sérusier's hand, urging him to ignore what his eyes saw and instead use the purest, most intense pigments on his palette—telling him to make the shadows as blue as possible! The resulting panel was so revolutionary that Sérusier's friends at the Académie Julian treated it like a holy relic, carrying it around and dubbing it 'The Talisman.' This little masterpiece basically launched the Nabis movement, proving that art didn't have to copy reality to capture its magic.
- Technique
- Oil on wood panel
- Material
- Oil paint, wood
- Dimensions
- 27 cm × 21.5 cm
Location: Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Views: 3