Masterpieces of the French post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin are on exhibition in Seoul.

The exhibition, which runs from Friday to Sept. 29 at the Seoul Museum of Art, is the first-ever comprehensive survey of Gauguin’s artistic career presented to a Korean audience.

It showcases about 60 artworks on loan from 30 major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum in Moscow. 

The exhibition focuses on two major periods of the artist’s career, in Brittany, France (1873-1891), and Polynesia (1893-1903).It showcases works including “Vision of the Sermon,” “The Yellow Christ” and “Where Do We Come From, What Are We, Where Are We Going.” The French artists’ sculptures and paper works will also be displayed.

Gauguin began to pursue painting as a career after quitting his job as a stockbroker at 35. He developed his unique painting style using bold colors and strong lines while in Brittany.

Among his famous paintings are “Vision of the Sermon,” depicting the biblical tale of Jacob wrestling with an angel, and “The Yellow Christ,” a portrayal of the crucifixion of Jesus, as well as “Portrait of the Artist with the Yellow Christ,” Gauguin’s self-portrait with the “The Yellow Christ” painted in the background.

The master’s “Vision of the Sermon” was finished in 1888, when Gauguin parted ways with his friend Vincent van Gogh with whom he spent several months at the Dutch painter’s residence in Arles until van Gogh abruptly pointed a razor at Gauguin during an argument.

In search of a new painting style, Gauguin moved to Tahiti and French Polynesia and created the famous exotic paintings “Three Tahitians,” “Tahitian Women on the Beach” and “Where Do We Come From, What Are We, Where Are We Going,” which depicts the human life cycle.

The exhibition “Gauguin and After: Voyage into the Myth” runs from June 14 to Sept. 29 at the Seoul Museum of Art. Admission is 13,000 won for adults, 10,000 won for teenagers and 8,000 won for children. The exhibition closes on Mondays. For more information, call 1588-2618.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)