Art History Lecture Series | Van Gogh & Gauguin auditorium

Join art historian Linda Yang for an informative and accessible six-week IN-PERSON lecture series that provides foundational knowledge of the artists Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.

Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin's work spins furiously within the centre of the avant-garde in the late nineteenth century. The two artists first encountered each other in Paris during the height of Impressionism, and mutual respect and rivalry coloured the rest of their lives. In this series we will follow the separate threads of their careers and connections: from their respective beginnings, their reactions to the heady Parisian avant-garde art scene, their explosive time in Arles together and finally, their separate work in France and Tahiti. 

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Lecture Programme

Week 1: This lecture will outline the early work of Vincent Van Gogh, focusing on his peasant paintings of Brabant, including his ambitious Potato Eaters. 

Week 2: This lecture introduces the early work of Paul Gauguin, contextualized within the evolving Impressionist scene. We discuss the first artistic exchange between Van Gogh and Gauguin, as the two men meet in Paris.

Week 3: Van Gogh moves to the Yellow House in Arles, working in anticipation of Gauguin’s arrival. We discuss the Sunflower series of this period, the artists’ exchange of self-portraits, and the influence of Japanese prints on Van Gogh’s work.

Week 4: Van Gogh and Gauguin live and work together for a brief two months in Arles. We will discuss their divergent approaches to the same subject matter, and the dramatic end to this ‘Studio of the South’.

Week 5: Following his abrupt departure from Arles, this class will follow Gauguin’s work in Tahiti. We will unpack the post-colonial complexities of this body of work with examples of contemporary Pasifika art.

Week 6: Our final class discusses the late work of Van Gogh as he moves in and out of hospitalization, including Starry Night. Finally, we look at how his sister-in-law, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, established Vincent’s post-humous legacy and his enduring popularity.

About the lecturer

Linda Yang (BFA/BA Hons, MA) is an art historian and educator. She has taught a range of art history and photography classes to secondary and tertiary students as well as adults at the University of Auckland, New Zealand School of Education, Browne School of Art and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, amongst others.

Linda was a long-time assistant of Marti Friedlander (1928–2016), one of New Zealand’s most famous and hailed photographers. She is now the archivist for the Marti Friedlander Archive, which is held by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s E H McCormick Research Library.

Linda prides herself in creating a safe environment where ideas can be exchanged and explored freely in discussion.

Image credits: Paul Gauguin, Cow in Meadow, Rouen, 1884, oil on canvas, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Julian and Josie Robertson through the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation, 2023. | Linda Yang