Where can I see The Yellow Christ?

It's at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (now Buffalo AKG Art Museum) in Buffalo, New York. Paul Gauguin painted it in 1889 in Pont-Aven, Brittany. It's one of the key paintings of his pre-Tahiti period.

What does the painting show?

A bright yellow Christ on a crucifix set in the Breton countryside. Three peasant women kneel nearby in traditional Breton clothing. The fields are orange and yellow, the trees autumnal red. Gauguin based the Christ figure on a wooden crucifix in the chapel of Trémalo near Pont-Aven.

Why is Christ yellow?

Gauguin used color symbolically rather than naturalistically. The yellow Christ may represent spiritual light, folk simplicity, or the harvest season. Gauguin rejected Impressionist naturalism for a style where color conveyed emotion and meaning directly, without imitating nature.

What art movement is this?

It's a landmark of Post-Impressionism and Cloisonnism, a style using bold outlines and flat color areas inspired by medieval stained glass and Japanese prints. Along with Émile Bernard, Gauguin developed this approach in Pont-Aven. It influenced the Nabis group and early Fauvism.

How big is The Yellow Christ?

It measures 92.1 cm × 73.4 cm (36.2 × 28.9 inches). The simplified forms, dark outlines, and non-naturalistic color represented a radical break from the Impressionists. Gauguin painted it two years before leaving for Tahiti, where he would push these ideas even further.

Where to See The Yellow Christ: Albright-Knox Art Gallery

The Yellow Christ

by Paul Gauguin, 1889

StylePost-Impressionism

GenreReligious

MediumOil Canvas

Palette

Year: 1889
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 92.1 cm × 73.4 cm

Where to See It

Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Buffalo, United States

Permanently housed

Museum Website Buy Tickets

The Artist

Paul Gauguin

1848–1903

French

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Paul Gauguin painted The Yellow Christ in 1889 during his time in Pont-Aven, Brittany. The work depicts a crucified Christ rendered in bright yellow, based on a 17th-century wooden crucifix from the nearby Trémalo Chapel. Three Breton women in traditional dress kneel at the foot of the cross against an autumn landscape.

Gauguin chose the bold yellow color to express his feelings about the isolated life and deep piety of the Breton peasants. The harvest season in Brittany carried spiritual significance, as grain was believed to mirror the Christian cycle of death and rebirth. This Symbolist approach rejected naturalistic color in favor of emotional truth.

The painting has a dramatic wartime history. Confiscated by the German Army in 1940, it passed through the Louvre and Jeu de Paume before ending up at the German embassy. After the war, it was returned and sold to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in 1946, where it remains today.

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