Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin painted his "Whence come we? What are we? Whither go we?" during his second stay in Tahiti, and it is a vast work that embodies the themes and images that he made his own based on his trips to Tahiti. This is a massive work which today is found in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It was painted in 1897 during a period of despondency, and the work can be seen as an expression of the inner turmoil experienced by the artist. The painting's underlying sense of mortality is spiritually oriented and can be seen as a statement by the painter of his sense of devotion to nature, to Tahiti, to the people and to the life he lived there. It reflects the artist's mood and in a sense foreshadows his attempted suicide.

Little is known of Gauguin's early life except that he was born in Paris in 1848 and was taken to Peru as an infant because his father feared the political turn of events in France. His father died on that journey, and his mother continued on with Paul and his sister to Lima. Four years later they returned to Paris and settled in OrlTans. He had an early association with strange cultures which may account for his life-long attraction to the exotic. He claimed to have savage Peruvian ancestry, but this was mere pretension on his part. He spent some years in the naval service, but little is known about these years. However, his sea voyages set a pattern for roving adventure his whole life.

Related Essays

Paul Gauguin Paul Gauguin was a major artist of the French postimpressionist period. .... Hoog, Michel. Paul Gauguin: Life and Work. New York: Rizzoli, 1987. Ives, Colta Feller. .... (2744 11 )

Paul Gauguin's The Red Cow Paul Gauguin's 1889 painting, "The Red Cow," is oil on canvas (48.17.2), painted during the artist's stay in Brittany. It is representative .... (962 4 )

Self-Portraits of Rembrandt, Cezanne & Gauguin It has been said th .... that the artist wished to convey in his work. Paul Gauguin was born in Paris in 1848. Early in his career, he too studied the work .... (1320 5 )

Self-Portraits of the Masters It has been said th .... that the artist wished to convey in his work. Paul Gauguin was born in Paris in 1848. Early in his career, he too studied the work .... (1323 5 )

Gauguin & Van Gogh Gauguin & Van Gogh: Inscription of the Other As painters in reaction against the bourgeois and fascinated by the exotic and colorful, Paul Gauguin (1848-1903 .... (2878 12 )

impression of Tahiti was probably disappointing, since European influence had changed every part of the capital of Papeete by that time. Gauguin was searching for the primitive, and he would not find it in that part of the country. He arrived with certain preconceived ideas about "native life" and so tended to idealize his surroundings to the extent of believing in the magic world he created on canvas: "His ideal savage splashed in the lagoons, hacked fruit down from the trees and hunted games in the forests."4 Gauguin himself lacked such skills and so purchased his food from the market. He also had sophisticated tastes that were not satisfied easily, and life there was not cheap. Gauguin's early pictures idealized Tahiti: "With masterful simplicity and colors more glowing than ever, he described an idyllic environment; but he felt that reference to native folklore and tradition was lacking. He interpreted a Christian theme in Tahitian terms but the discovery in 1892 of J.A. Moerenhout's account of ancient Tahitian mythology released a stream of new ideas."5 After this, he began to include elements of this mythology in his work. Gauguin took his French bohemianism with him to the South Seas. As a result of these years

Category: Arts - P