THE HAUNTING MYSTERY OF GAUGUIN’S MASTERPIECE current documentary

Waldemar Januszczak

Great Britain 2013

It’s a pleasure to break from the norm by presenting a documentary by the entertaining historian Waldemar Januszczak who enjoys the rare talent of being both informative and funny. His video dealing with a masterpiece by the French post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin is just one short example of a series of heartfelt BBC documentaries about the history of art: all of which accessible form YouTube, if you can bare the constant interruptions for banal publicity suggesting better ways of investing your dwindling fortune or miracle natural medicines to help you avoid death. I thoroughly recommend Waldemar’s complete two hour video dealing with Gauguin’s entire existence, or indeed any other of his Perspectives documentaries concerning very different aspects of art history.

Language level:

Simple, direct and devoid of academic jargon

Key words and expressions:

Alluring

To set off (for)

A chunk of career

Haunting pictures

Belong to another world

To wrestle (with an angel)

What does it have to do with her…?

Why did Gauguin fetch up here?

Rents were cheap

Low and lofty

Human weakness

To doze

Boarding school

To struggle

Their own mysterious past

Clogs on granite

Handy

To wrestle with your conscience

To dote over your children

They kicked him out

Lovey-dovey pairs

A boy wonder

Mass

Crush

The tree was borrowed from

Grotesque carvings

Woodland

Loaded with deep meaning

Moody church

To hang a picture

Mediaeval grotesques

He was showily donating his gift to the church

They flanked this sculpture

His eyes would have wondered around the church

Hooked-nosed

A monkish hairstyle

The right or wrong path

Temptress

Buddy