What famous artist lived in Tahiti. Paul Gauguin: paintings and biography

The contradictory character of the French post-impressionist artist Paul Gauguin and his unusual fate created a special new reality in his works, where color plays a dominant role. Unlike the Impressionists, who attached significance to shadows, the artist conveyed his thoughts through a restrained composition, a clear outline of figures and a color scheme. Gauguin's maximalism, his rejection of European civilization and restraint, increased interest in the cultures of the islands of South America alien to Europe, the introduction of the new concept of “synthetism” and the desire to find a sense of heaven on earth allowed the artist to take his special place in the art world of the late 19th century.

From civilization to overseas countries

Paul Gauguin was born on June 7, 1848 in Paris. His parents were a French journalist, an adherent of radical republicanism, and a mother of French-Peruvian origin. After an unsuccessful revolutionary coup, the family was forced to move to their mother’s parents in Peru. The artist’s father died of a heart attack during the journey, and Paul’s family lived in South America for seven years.

Returning to France, the Gauguins settled in Orleans. Paul quickly became tired of the unremarkable life of a provincial town. Adventurous character traits led him to a merchant ship, and then to the navy, in which Paul visited Brazil, Panama, the islands of Oceania, and continued his travels from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle until he left the service. By this time, the future artist was left alone, his mother had died. Gustave Aroz took guardianship over him, and he employed Paul in a stock exchange firm. A decent income and success in a new field should have predetermined the life of a wealthy bourgeois for many years.

Family or creativity

At the same time, Gauguin met the governess Mette-Sophia Gard, who accompanied the wealthy Danish heiress. The governess's curvy figure, determination, laughing face and manner of speaking without deliberate timidity captivated Gauguin. Metta-Sophia Gad was not distinguished by sensuality, did not recognize coquetry, she behaved freely and expressed herself directly, which distinguished her from other young people. This repulsed many men, but on the contrary, it captivated the dreamer Gauguin. In self-confidence, he saw an original character, and the girl’s presence drove away the loneliness that tormented him. Metta seemed to him like a patroness, in whose arms he could feel as calm as a child. The offer of the wealthy Gauguin relieved Mette of the need to think about her daily bread. On November 22, 1873, the marriage took place. This marriage produced five children: a girl and four boys. Paul named his daughter and second son in honor of his parents: Clovis and Alina.

Could the young wife have thought that her wealthy, respectable life would be broken by the innocent brush of an artist in the hands of her husband, who one winter day would announce to her that from now on he would only engage in painting, and she and her children would be forced to return to relatives in Denmark.

From impressionism to synthetism

For Gauguin, painting was the path to liberation, the stock exchange was irretrievably lost time. Only in creativity, without wasting time on hated responsibilities, could he be himself. Having reached a critical point, having quit the stock exchange, which brought in a good income, Gauguin became convinced that everything was far from so simple. The savings melted away, the paintings did not sell, but the return to work on the stock exchange and the abandonment of the newfound freedom horrified Gauguin.

Uncertainly, gropingly, moving blindly, Gauguin tried to grasp the world of colors and shapes raging within him. Under the influence of Manet, he painted a number of still lifes at this time and created a series of works on the theme of the coast of Brittany. But the pull of civilization forces him to go to Martinique, participate in the construction of the Panama Canal, and recover from swamp fever in the Antilles.

The works of the island period become unusually colorful, bright, and do not fit into the framework of the canons of impressionism. Later, having arrived in France, Gauguin in Pont-Aven united artists in the school of “color synthetism,” which was characterized by simplification and generalization of forms: the outline of a dark line was filled with a spot of color. This method gave the works expressiveness and at the same time decorativeness, making them very bright. It was in this manner that “Jacob Wrestling with the Angel” and “The Cafe in Arles” (1888) were written. This was all significantly different from the play of shadows, the play of light breaking through the foliage, the highlights on the water - all those techniques that are so characteristic of the impressionists.

After the failure of the exhibition of impressionists and "synthetics", Gauguin leaves France and goes to Oceania. The islands of Tahiti and Dominic fully corresponded to his dream of a world devoid of signs of European civilization. Numerous works from this period are distinguished by open solar brightness, conveying the rich colors of Polynesia. Techniques for stylizing static figures on a color plane turn compositions into decorative panels. The desire to live according to the laws of primitive man, without the influence of civilization, was stopped by a forced return to France due to poor physical health.

Fatal friendship

Gauguin spends some time in Paris, Brittany, and stays with Van Gogh in Arles, where a tragic incident occurs. Gauguin's enthusiastic admirers in Brittany unwittingly gave the artist the opportunity to treat Van Gogh from the position of a teacher. Van Gogh's exaltation and Gauguin's maximalism led to serious scandals between them, during one of which Van Gogh rushes at Gauguin with a knife and then cuts off part of his ear. This episode forces Gauguin to leave Arles and after some time return to Tahiti.

Looking for heaven on earth

A thatched hut, a remote village and a bright palette in the works, reflecting tropical nature: sea, greenery, sun. The canvases of this time depict Gauguin’s young wife, Tehura, whom her parents willingly gave in marriage at the age of thirteen.

A constant lack of money, health problems, and a serious venereal disease caused by promiscuous relationships with local girls forced Gauguin to return to France again. Having received an inheritance, the artist returned to Tahiti again, then to the island of Hiva Oa, where in May 1903 he died of a heart attack.

Three weeks after Gauguin's death, his property was inventoried and auctioned off for next to nothing. A certain “expert” from the capital of Tahiti simply threw away some of the drawings and watercolors. The remaining works were purchased at auction by naval officers. The most expensive work, “Motherhood,” went under the hammer for one hundred and fifty francs, and the appraiser generally showed “Breton Village in the Snow” upside down, giving it the name… “Niagara Falls.”

Post-Imresionist and innovator of synthetism

Along with Cezanne, Seurat and Van Gogh, Gauguin is considered the greatest master of post-impressionism. Having absorbed his lessons, he created his own unique artistic language, introducing into the history of modern painting the rejection of traditional naturalism, taking abstract symbols and figures of nature as a starting point, emphasizing striking and mysterious color weaves.

When writing the article, the following literature was used:
“Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Painting”, compiled by E.V. Ivanova
“Encyclopedia of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism”, compiled by T.G. Petrovets
“The Life of Gauguin”, A. Perruch

Marina Staskevich

Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848 - May 8, 1903) was a French painter, ceramic sculptor and graphic artist. Along with Cezanne and Van Gogh, he was the largest representative of post-impressionism. In the early 1870s he began painting as an amateur. The early period of creativity is associated with impressionism. Since 1880 he participated in impressionist exhibitions. Since 1883, professional artist. Gauguin's works were not in demand; the artist was poor. Currently (as of 09.2015), Gauguin's painting "When the Wedding" is challenging the title of the most expensive painting sold.

Paul Gauguin was born in Paris on June 7, 1848. His father, Clovis Gauguin (1814-1849), was a journalist in the political chronicle department of Thiers and Armand Mar's magazine National, obsessed with radical republican ideas; mother, Alina Maria (1825-1867), was from a wealthy family from Peru. Her mother was the famous Flora Tristan (1803-1844), who shared the ideas of utopian socialism and published the autobiographical book “The Wanderings of a Pariah” in 1838.

In 1849, after a failed anti-monarchist coup, Clovis, not feeling safe in his homeland, decided to leave France. Together with his family, he boarded a ship bound for Peru, where he intended to settle down with his wife Alina's family and open his own magazine. These plans were not destined to come true. On the way to South America, Clovis died of a heart attack.

Thus, until the age of seven, Paul lived in Peru and was raised in his mother’s family. Childhood impressions, exotic nature, bright national costumes, carefree life on his uncle’s estate in Lima remained in his memory for the rest of his life, affecting his insatiable thirst for travel and craving for the tropics.

In 1855, when Paul was 7 years old, he and his mother returned to France to receive an inheritance from his paternal uncle and settled in Orleans with his grandfather. Gauguin quickly learns French and begins to excel in education. In 1861, Alina opened a sewing workshop in Paris, and her son was preparing to enter the Nautical School. But he could not stand the competition and in December 1865 he was hired to sail as a “cadet”, or pilot apprentice. Until 1871, he would sail almost continuously all over the world: in South America, in the Mediterranean, in the northern seas. While in India, he learns of the death of his mother, who in her will recommends that he “make a career, since he is completely unable to win the favor of family friends and may soon find himself very lonely.” However, having arrived in Paris in 1872, he received the support of his mother’s friend Gustave Arosa, a stockbroker, photographer and collector of modern paintings, who had known him since childhood. Thanks to his recommendations, Gauguin receives the position of stock broker.

In 1873, Gauguin married a young Danish woman, Matte-Sophie Gad, a member of the Arosa family. Gauguin also became a father: Emile was born in 1874, Alina in 1877, Clovis in 1879, Jean-René in 1881 and Paul in 1883. Over the next ten years, Gauguin’s position in society strengthened. His family occupies increasingly comfortable apartments, where special attention is paid to the artist’s studio. Gauguin, like his guardian Arosa, “collects” paintings, especially impressionist ones, and paints himself.

From 1873-1874 his first landscapes appeared, one of them will be exhibited at the 1876 Salon. Gauguin met the impressionist artist Camille Pissarro before 1874, but their friendship began in 1878. Gauguin has been invited to participate in Impressionist exhibitions since the beginning of 1879: the collector is gradually taken seriously as an artist. He spends the summer of 1879 with Pissarro in Pontoise, where he paints gardens and rural landscapes similar to those of the “master,” like everything he would paint until 1885. Pissarro introduces Gauguin to Edgar Degas, who will always support Gauguin, buying his paintings and convincing Durand-Ruel, a dealer in Impressionist paintings, to do the same. Degas will become the owner of about 10 paintings by Gauguin, including "Beautiful Angela", "Woman with a Mango", or "Hina Tefatou"

In 1884, Gauguin moved with his family to Copenhagen, where he continued to work as a broker. However, after he began painting full time, Paul left his wife and five children in Denmark and returned to Paris in 1885.

In 1886-1890, Gauguin spent almost all his time in Pont-Aven (Brittany), where he communicated with a group of artists close to symbolism. The artist first went there in 1886, wanting to take a break from Paris and save a little: life there was noticeably cheaper.

The island of Martinique, where Gauguin went in 1887 with the artist Laval, whom he met in Brittany, helped bring about an evolution in the master’s work, making Japanese influences noticeable in his works.

In 1887-1888 he visited Panama, where he observed the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1888, he lived for some time with Van Gogh in Arles and worked with him. The stay ended in a quarrel related to one of Van Gogh's first attacks of insanity.

Having experienced a craving for exotic places since childhood, spent in Peru (in his mother’s homeland), and considering civilization a “disease,” Gauguin, eager to “merge with nature,” left for Tahiti in 1891, where he lived in Papeete and where he wrote in 1892 as many as 80 paintings. After a short (1893-1895) return to France, due to illness and lack of funds, he left for Oceania forever - first to Tahiti, and from 1901 to the island of Hiva Oa (Marquesas Islands), where he took a young Tahitian woman as his wife and works in full force: writes landscapes, stories, works as a journalist. On this island he dies. Despite illnesses (including leprosy), poverty and depression, which led him to attempt suicide, Gauguin wrote his best works there. Observations of the real life and way of life of the peoples of Oceania are intertwined with local myths.

Fame came to the artist after his death, when 227 of his works were exhibited in Paris in 1906. The influence of Gauguin's work on the art of the 20th century is undeniable.

Gauguin's life is the basis for Somerset Maugham's novel The Moon and the Penny. It describes a simple English broker, Charles Strickland, who left his family, job and home in order to pursue painting.

A crater on Mercury is named after Gauguin.

A film was made about the last years of Gauguin's life, starring Donald Sutherland, The Wolf on the Doorstep (1986). There is also a film with Kiefer Sutherland - “Paradise Found” (2003).

Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903) was one of the leading Post-Impressionist artists. In the early 1870s, he was engaged in art at an amateur level. He became a professional artist in 1883. By the way, then Gauguin’s paintings were worth practically nothing, but now the price of his works at world auctions reaches tens of thousands of dollars.

Paul Gauguin: childhood and youth

Paul Gauguin 1891

Paul Gauguin's hometown is Paris. After the French Revolution of 1848, Gauguin's family fled to Peru. On the way, a misfortune happened - the head of the family died of a heart attack.

After 7 years in Peru, the family returned to France. They lived in the province, in the city of Orleans. Paul Gauguin wanted to leave the province because it seemed boring to him. From 1865 he worked on a merchant ship. Gauguin became a real navigator and visited many countries. But, after the death of his mother, he left the sea and began working as a stockbroker.

Family life of Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin was married to a Danish woman. Mette Gauguin(nee Gad) gave the artist five children.

And although Gauguin's hobby was always drawing, he doubted his painting abilities. His fate as an artist was predetermined by the stock market crash that occurred in 1882.

The family moved to Copenhagen in 1884. The reason for the move was a difficult financial situation. After a year of living in Denmark, the family broke up. Gauguin goes back to Paris.

Life in Paris was difficult, and Paul Gauguin moved again, this time to Brittany. There he felt excellent, and the spirit of the traveler awakened in him again.

Paul Gauguin and Van Gogh

Paul Gauguin and Van Gogh were friends. According to one version, a quarrel occurred between the artists, in which Van Gogh rushed at Gauguin with a knife. After a quarrel, in a state of mental disorder, Van Gogh cut off his left earlobe. It is worth saying that there are many versions of this story, but no one knows how it really happened.

The further life of Paul Gauguin

In 1889, Gauguin decides to go to live in Tahiti. Having earned 10 thousand francs from the sale of his paintings, the artist sailed to the island. There he bought a hut and worked hard. I often drew his second wife, a 13-year-old Tahitian girl named Tehura.

When the money ran out, the artist was forced to return to France, where he was left a small inheritance. After some time, he returned to the island of Tahiti, where he lived in poverty.

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Paul Gauguin was born in Paris on June 7, 1848. His father, Clovis Gauguin (1814-1849), was a journalist in the political chronicle department of Thiers and Armand Mar's magazine National, obsessed with radical republican ideas; mother, Alina Maria (1825-1867), was from Peru from a wealthy Creole family. Her mother was the famous Flora Tristan (1803-1844), who shared the ideas of utopian socialism and published the autobiographical book “The Wanderings of a Pariah” in 1838.

In 1849, after a failed anti-monarchist coup, Clovis, not feeling safe in his homeland, decided to leave France. Together with his family, he boarded a ship bound for Peru, where he intended to settle down with his wife Alina’s family and open his own magazine. But on the way to South America, Clovis died of a heart attack.

In 1855, when Paul was 7 years old, he and his mother returned to France to receive an inheritance from his paternal uncle and settled in Orleans with his grandfather. Gauguin quickly learns French and begins to excel in education. In 1861, Alina opened a sewing workshop in Paris, and Paul was preparing to enter the Nautical School. But he could not stand the competition and in December 1865 he was hired to sail as a “cadet”, or pilot’s apprentice. Until 1871, he was almost continuously sailing all over the world: in South America, in the Mediterranean Sea, in the northern seas. While in India, he learned of the death of his mother, who in her will recommended that he “make a career, since he is completely incapable of endearing himself to family friends and may soon find himself very lonely.” However, having arrived in Paris in 1872, he received the support of his mother’s friend Gustave Arosa, a stockbroker, photographer and collector of modern paintings, who had known him since childhood. Thanks to his recommendations, Gauguin received the position of stock broker.

In 1873, Gauguin married a young Danish woman, Matte-Sophie Gad, a member of the Arosa family. In 1874, son Emil was born, in 1877 - daughter Alina, in 1879 - son Clovis, in 1881 - son Jean-René, in 1883 - son Paul. Over the next ten years, Gauguin's position in society strengthened. His family occupied increasingly comfortable apartments, where special attention was paid to the artist's studio. Gauguin, like his guardian Arosa, “collected” paintings, especially by the Impressionists, and gradually painted them himself.

In 1873-1874 his first landscapes began to appear, one of them was exhibited at the Salon of 1876. Gauguin met the impressionist painter Camille Pissarro before 1874, but their friendship began in 1878. Gauguin was invited to participate in Impressionist exhibitions from the beginning of 1879: the collector gradually began to be taken seriously as an artist. He spent the summer of 1879 with Pissarro in Pontoise, where he painted gardens and rural landscapes similar to those of the “master,” like everything he would paint until 1885. Pissarro introduced Gauguin to Edgar Degas, who would always support Gauguin, buying his paintings and convincing Durand-Ruel, a dealer in Impressionist paintings, to do the same. Degas became the owner of about ten paintings by Gauguin, including La Belle Angela, Woman with a Mango, or Hina Tefatou.

In 1884, Gauguin moved with his family to Copenhagen, where he continued to work as a broker. However, after he began to paint full time, he left his wife and five children in Denmark and returned to Paris in 1885.

In 1887-1888 he visited Panama, where he observed the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1888 he lived for some time with

Paul Gauguin can be reproached for many things - infidelity to his official wife, irresponsible attitude towards children, cohabitation with minors, blasphemy, extreme selfishness.

But what does this mean in comparison with the greatest talent that fate awarded him?

Gauguin is entirely a contradiction, an insoluble conflict and a life similar to an adventure drama. And Gauguin is a whole layer of world art and hundreds of paintings. And a completely new aesthetics that still surprises and delights.

Life is ordinary

Paul Gauguin was born on June 7, 1848 into a very extraordinary family. The future artist’s mother was the daughter of a famous writer. Father is a journalist for a political magazine.

At 23, Gauguin finds a good job. He becomes a successful stockbroker. But in the evenings and on weekends he draws.

At 25 he marries Dutchwoman Mette Sophie Gad. But their union is not a story about great love and the honorable place of the great master’s muse. For Gauguin felt sincere love only for art. Which the wife did not share.

If Gauguin portrayed his wife, it was rare and quite specific. For example, against the background of a gray-brown wall, turned away from the viewer.

Paul Gauguin. Mette is sleeping on the sofa. 1875. Private collection. The-athenaeum.com

However, the couple will give birth to five children, and, perhaps, besides them, they will soon have nothing in common. Mette considered her husband's painting classes a waste of time. She married a wealthy broker. And I wanted to lead a comfortable life.

Therefore, one day my husband’s decision to quit his job and do only painting was a huge blow for Mette. Their union, of course, will not withstand such a test.

The beginning of art

The first 10 years of Paul and Mette's marriage passed calmly and safely. Gauguin was only an amateur in painting. And he painted only in his free time from the stock exchange.

Most of all, Gauguin was seduced. Here is one of Gauguin's works, painted with typical impressionist reflections of light and a sweet corner of the countryside.

Paul Gauguin. Poultry house. 1884. Private collection. The-athenaeum.com

Gauguin actively communicates with such outstanding painters of his time as Cezanne,.

Their influence is felt in Gauguin's early works. For example, in the painting “Suzanne Sewing.”

Paul Gauguin. Suzanne sewing. 1880 New Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. The-athenaeum.com

The girl is busy with her own business, and we seem to be spying on her. Quite in the spirit of Degas.

Gauguin does not seek to embellish it. She was hunched over, which made her posture and stomach unattractive. The skin is “ruthlessly” rendered not only in beige and pink, but also in blue and green. And this is quite in the spirit of Cezanne.

And some serenity and tranquility are clearly taken from Pissarro.

The year 1883, when Gauguin turns 35, becomes a turning point in his biography. He left his job at the stock exchange, confident that he would quickly become famous as a painter.

But the hopes were not justified. The accumulated money quickly ran out. Mette's wife, not wanting to live in poverty, goes to her parents, taking the children. This meant the collapse of their family union.

Gauguin in Brittany

Gauguin spends the summer of 1886 in Brittany in northern France.

It was here that Gauguin developed his individual style. Which will change little. And by which he is so recognizable.

The simplicity of the drawing borders on caricature. Large areas of the same color. Bright colors, especially a lot of yellow, blue, red. Unrealistic color schemes, when the earth could be red and the trees blue. And also mystery and mysticism.

We see all this in one of Gauguin’s main masterpieces of the Breton period - “The Vision after the Sermon or the Fight of Jacob with the Angel.”

Paul Gauguin. Vision after the sermon (Jacob's Wrestling with the Angel). 1888 National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

The real meets the fantastic. Breton women in their characteristic white caps view a scene from the Book of Genesis. How Jacob wrestles with the Angel.

Someone is watching (including a cow), someone is praying. And all this against the backdrop of red earth. It’s as if it’s happening in the tropics, oversaturated with bright colors. One day Gauguin will go to the real tropics. Is it because its colors are more appropriate there?

Another masterpiece was created in Brittany - “The Yellow Christ”. This painting is the background to his self-portrait (at the beginning of the article).

Paul Gauguin. Yellow Christ. 1889 Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Muzei-Mira.com

Already from these paintings, created in Brittany, one can see a significant difference between Gauguin and the Impressionists. The impressioners depicted their visual sensations without introducing any hidden meaning.

But for Gauguin, allegory was important. It is not for nothing that he is considered the founder of symbolism in painting.

Look how calm and even indifferent the Bretons are sitting around the crucified Christ. Thus Gauguin shows that the sacrifice of Christ has long been forgotten. And religion for many has become just a set of obligatory rituals.

Why did the artist depict himself against the background of his own painting with the yellow Christ? For this, many believers did not like him. Considering such “gestures” to be blasphemy. Gauguin considered himself a victim of the tastes of the public, which did not accept his work. Frankly comparing his suffering with the martyrdom of Christ.

And the public actually had a hard time understanding him. In Brittany, the mayor of one town ordered a portrait of his wife. This is how “Beautiful Angela” appeared.

Paul Gauguin. Beautiful Angela. 1889 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Vangogen.ru

The real Angela was shocked. She could not even imagine that she would be so “beautiful.” Narrow pig eyes. Swollen bridge of the nose. Huge bony hands.

And next to it is an exotic figurine. Which the girl regarded as a parody of her husband. After all, he was shorter than her. It’s surprising that the customers didn’t tear the canvas apart in a fit of anger.

Gauguin in Arles

It is clear that the incident with “Beautiful Angela” did not increase Gauguin’s customers. Poverty forces him to agree to the proposal about working together. He went to see him in Arles, southern France. Hoping that life together will be easier.

Here they write the same people, the same places. Like, for example, Madame Gidou, the owner of a local cafe. Although the style is different. I think you can easily guess (if you haven’t seen these paintings before) where Gauguin’s hand is and where Van Gogh’s is.

Information about the paintings at the end of the article*

But the domineering, self-confident Paul and the nervous, hot-tempered Vincent could not get along under the same roof. And one day, in the heat of a quarrel, Van Gogh almost killed Gauguin.

The friendship was over. And Van Gogh, tormented by remorse, cut off his earlobe.

Gauguin in the tropics

In the early 1890s, the artist was seized by a new idea - to organize a workshop in the tropics. He decided to settle in Tahiti.

Life on the islands turned out to be not as rosy as Gauguin initially imagined. The natives received him coldly, and there was little “untouched culture” left - the colonists had long brought civilization to these wild places.

Local residents rarely agreed to pose for Gauguin. And if they came to his hut, they preened themselves in a European manner.

Paul Gauguin. Woman with a flower. 1891 New Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. Wikiart.org

Throughout his life in French Polynesia, Gauguin would search for “pure” native culture, settling as far as possible from the cities and villages developed by the French.

Outlandish art

Undoubtedly, Gauguin discovered a new aesthetics in painting for Europeans. With each ship he sent his paintings to the “mainland”.

Canvases depicting naked dark-skinned beauties in a primitive setting aroused great interest among European viewers.

Paul Gauguin. Oh, are you jealous? 1892, Moscow

Gauguin scrupulously studied local culture, rituals, and mythology. Thus, in the painting “Loss of Virginity” Gauguin allegorically illustrates the pre-wedding custom of the Tahitians.

Paul Gauguin. Losing virginity. 1891 Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, USA. Wikiart.org

The bride was kidnapped by the groom's friends on the eve of the wedding. They “helped” him make the girl a woman. That is, in fact, the first wedding night belonged to them.

True, this custom had already been eradicated by missionaries by the time Gauguin arrived. The artist learned about him from the stories of local residents.

Gauguin also loved to philosophize. This is how his famous painting “Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?

Paul Gauguin. Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? 1897 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA. Vangogen.ru

Gauguin's personal life in the tropics

There are many legends about Gauguin's personal life on the island.

They say that the artist was very promiscuous in his relationships with local mulatto women. He suffered from numerous venereal diseases. But history has preserved the names of some lovers.

The most famous affection was 13-year-old Tehura. The young girl can be seen in the painting “The Spirit of the Dead Never Sleeps.”

Paul Gauguin. The spirit of the dead does not sleep. 1892 Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. Wikipedia.org

Gauguin left her pregnant and went to France. From this connection a boy, Emil, was born. He was raised by a local man, whom Tehura married. It is known that Emil lived to be 80 years old and died in poverty.

Confession immediately after death

Gauguin never had time to enjoy his success.

Numerous illnesses, difficult relationships with missionaries, lack of money - all this undermined the painter’s strength. Gauguin died on May 8, 1903.

Here is one of his latest paintings, “The Spell.” In which the mixture of native and colonial is especially noticeable. Spell and cross. Naked and dressed in tight clothing.

And a thin layer of paint. Gauguin had to save money. If you've seen Gauguin's work in person, you've probably noticed this.

Events develop after his death as a mockery of the poor painter. Dealer Vollard organizes a grand exhibition of Gauguin. The salon** devotes an entire room to him...

But Gauguin was not destined to bathe in this grandiose glory. He didn't live to see her just a little...

However, the painter’s art turned out to be immortal - his paintings still amaze with their stubborn lines, exotic color and unique style.

Paul Gauguin. 2015 Artist's collection

There are many works by Gauguin in Russia. All thanks to pre-revolutionary collectors Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin. They brought home many of the master’s paintings.

One of Gauguin’s main masterpieces, “Girl Holding a Fruit,” is kept in St. Petersburg.

Paul Gauguin. Woman holding a fruit. 1893 State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Artchive.ru