The Invocation - Paul Gauguin

A late masterpiece by Paul Gauguin, featuring ritualistic figures in a dreamlike, non-naturalistic setting from his time in the Marquesas Islands.

Painted in 1903, the final year of his life, The Invocation represents the culmination of Paul Gauguin's time in the Marquesas Islands. The composition features a group of figures arranged in a ritualistic setting, with a central woman standing with her arms raised in a gesture of prayer or supplication. Her golden skin tone contrasts with the intense, non-naturalistic magenta of the ground, a hallmark of Gauguin's mature style.

To the left, two figures sit in a quiet, contemplative posture, while two others stand further back, one draped in a red garment. The background depicts a hilly terrain under a golden sky, with a small cross visible in the distance, suggesting the complex intersection of indigenous spiritual practices and the colonial influence of Christianity. Gauguin employs flat planes of colour and simplified forms to move away from the descriptive realism of his earlier work, favouring a more symbolic and expressive approach.

The painting reflects the artist's preoccupation with the exotic and the primitive, themes that defined his later career. The deliberate distortion of form and the arbitrary use of colour serve to create a dreamlike, otherworldly atmosphere. By this stage, Gauguin had largely abandoned the conventions of Western perspective, opting instead for a decorative arrangement of shapes and figures that prioritises emotional resonance over anatomical accuracy. The work remains a significant example of his late period, capturing the isolation and spiritual searching that characterised his final years in the Pacific.