
by Paul Gauguin, 1889
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.
Other masterpieces from the Post-Impressionism movement

Vincent van Gogh, 1889
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Vincent van Gogh, 1888
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Vincent van Gogh, 1889
Getty Center, Los Angeles

Vincent van Gogh, 1888
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

Vincent van Gogh, 1890
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Vincent van Gogh, 1889
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York

Vincent van Gogh, 1890
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Vincent van Gogh, 1888
National Gallery, London
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