The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Gauguin Portraits, The National Gallery

The tales told of Paul Gauguin sometimes sound too much to be true: he was living with Van Gogh (who is also getting a retrospective next year) when the latter cut off his own ear, he abandoned his wife to marry a 13-year-old in Tahiti and spent his final years ravaged by alcoholism and syphilis. It is easy to see how the Parisian’s somewhat disturbing personal life has, at times, overshadowed his art in the popular imagination. His works, though, are more than deserving of their own spotlight. He may have struggled to make a living as an artist but, after his death, Gauguin (1848-1903) has come to be appreciated as one of the key post-Impressionists who later influenced the more well-known figures of Picasso and Matisse.

Visitors to the National Gallery next year will have the opportunity to see Gauguin’s works in an entirely new light. The first ever exhibition focused solely on Gauguin’s portraits aims to highlight the later part of Gauguin’s career, from the mid-1880s to his death,hgihlighting his transition from Impressionism to Symbolism. Bringing together approximately 50 works from collections all over the world, this exhibition offers visitors an unparalleled opportunity to see so many of his portraits side-by-side for the first time.

Christ in the Garden of Olives, 1889, Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach

Highlights of the exhibition include a group of self-portraits in which Gauguin paints himself as a range of recognisable figures, including Jesus Christ in Christ in the Garden of Olives 1889. Parallels are drawn between Christ’s sacrifice and Gauguin's own suffering in the name of art, with the contrast between the warm tones used for the self-portrait and the cold, bleak background hinting at the isolation of the subject. Lovers of French literature (or popular musicals) will be interested to hear that Gauguin also painted himself as Jean Valjean, Victor Hugo's legendary heroic outcast. Although it has not been confirmed that this work will be on display, it serves as poignant comparison.

This major exhibition offers visitors a rare chance to see another side of a world-famous artist.