Paul Gauguin

Born in Paris in 1848, Gauguin’s self-mythology builds on his life of travel: from childhood years with his mother’s family in Peru, and time in the merchant navy, to artistic work in Denmark, France, Martinique and Te Moana Nui (Pacific Ocean). Disillusioned with the decadence of modern France and industrial society, Gauguin cultivated a persona as a great artist with a ‘savage’ soul, actively aligning his work with cultures in Brittany, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Asia and Oceania. In search of an imagined earthly ‘paradise’, Gauguin spent his later years in Tahiti and, finally, the Marquesas Islands. From his early Impressionist works, through experiments in synthetism and symbolism, Gauguin’s body of work, drawing, ceramics, wood carving and printmaking. He forged new ground in genres of portraiture, still-life and landscape, gaining recognition for his bold and expressive use of colour and materials, and becoming one of the first artists to achieve international acclaim.²

Learn more about Gauguin:

Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao exhibition

Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao audio tour

Appropriation

Often constructing his compositions from a range of sources, a bowerbird-like approach defined Gauguin’s creative process and studio environment. Looking closely at the objects around him – either in actual or photographic form – Gauguin did not hesitate to reproduce, adapt or combine references for his own creative purposes. For example, when Gauguin travelled to Te Moana Nui (Pacific Ocean) he surrounded himself with photographic reproductions and sketches of works by other European artists and from a variety of cultures that he encountered during his travels. In paintings, such as Arii matamoe (The royal end), 1892, Gauguin employed layered sources, cultural references, iconography and settings to evoke an imagined version of Te Moana Nui (Pacific Ocean) cultures, despite the realities of European colonisation.

Provocations

Before reading the introduction to Gauguin’s painting, Arii matamoe (The royal end):

• Read the quotes from Gauguin and jot down key words related to the themes and intent of his work?
• Spend a minute quietly looking at Gauguin’s painting, Arii matamoe (The royal end). How would you describe your initial response to this work of art?

Gauguin’s 1892 painting Arii matamoe (The royal end) centres on the image of a severed head presented on a white pillow. This invented scene was motivated by two events witnessed by Gauguin. The first was in Paris in 1888, where Gauguin attended the public execution by guillotine of the criminal Prado. The second was in June 1891, where Gauguin witnessed the funeral of Tahiti’s last king, Pomare V. In Noa Noa, Gauguin’s account of his life in Tahiti, the artist commented that he thought of Pomare's death as emblematic of the loss of Tahitian culture and traditions in the face of European colonisation.

While in reality Pomare V’s body remained intact and his funeral ceremonies were in European style, Gauguin may have painted his imagined version of a pre-colonial funeral to emphasise the ‘Otherness’ of the Te Moana Nui (Pacific Ocean) for a French audience. In effect, Gauguin took an image from European art history – the severed head of John the Baptist held on a platter — and gave it, what he saw as, a new and ‘exotic’ setting. The artist may also have been referencing Marquesan mortuary traditions, in which the head was the site of mana, or spiritual power, and was preserved.

Several objects from the Marquesas Islands inspired Gauguin’s invented scene. A papahia is a solid, block-like stool, similar in shape to the ‘platter’ on which Gauguin placed the king’s head. Usually cut from a single piece of wood, they are used as a mortar for pounding breadfruit, plantains or taro. The guardian figures Gauguin placed at the entrance of his palace resemble, ivi po’o, Marquesan tiki figures carved from bone. Ivi po’o are believed to resemble ancestral deities.⁴ In this painting, Gauguin’s alteration of cultural objects and traditions was opportunistic and in service of his own imagined world. As 21st Century viewers, it is now clear that their cultural significance was lost on him.

Provocations

After reading the introduction to Arii matamoe (The royal end), further consider Gauguin’s painting through reflection and discussion:

• List the sources and references that Gauguin has adapted and incorporated in his painting. What connection does Gauguin have to the sources and references that he has drawn upon?
• What are the implications of Gauguin’s use of cultural references, objects and histories to create an imagined scene?
• Consider the subject, narrative and intended audience of Gauguin’s painting, Arii matamoe (The royal end). What might be the ongoing impacts or legacies of this work of art?

Provocations

Before reading the introduction to Gauguin’s painting Tahitian women:

• Read the quotes from Gauguin and jot down key words related to the themes and intent of his work.
• Spend a minute quietly looking at Gauguin’s painting, Tahitian women. How would you describe your initial response to this work of art?

Gauguin arrived in Tahiti in June 1891 and painted Tahitian women during his first months on the island. Seen against simplified bands of dark ocean, green lagoon and creamy yellow sand, two sunlit figures sit side-by-side. The women appear physically close to the viewer, yet their gaze does not meet ours.

Although they are depicted at rest, there is a sense of quiet tension in the women’s hunched postures, as well as their contrasting attire and their ambiguous relationship to the artist. The woman on the left is dressed in a floral pareo, or wrap-around skirt, with a single white flower tucked behind her ear. Her bare arm creates a strong vertical in the composition, supporting her weight, while drawing attention to the more conservative style of her companion’s long-sleeved pink dress. The women’s clothing speaks to a collision of cultures and the impact of colonisation, religion and trade on Tahitian society. Before Christian missionaries introduced cotton textiles, clothing in Tahiti was traditionally made of tapa or barkcloth. Gauguin paints the woman on the right holding weaving materials, likely local pandanus leaves, suggesting an aspect of cultural continuity.

Almost a century after the first Christian missionaries arrived, Polynesia was not what Gauguin expected, despite his hope that there could still exist an earthly ‘paradise’ of unspoiled nature. In late June 1891, Gauguin wrote to his wife Mette:

Provocations

After reading the introduction to Tahitian women, further consider Gauguin’s painting through reflection and discussion:

• In what ways does learning about the impact of colonisation affect your perception or interpretation of this work of art?
• How does learning more about the historical context shift your understanding of the dynamic or relationship between the artist and the women that he has portrayed?

Artmaking prompts

• How does the clothing that you wear express or influence the way you feel? Are there particular items of clothing that make you feel empowered or disempowered?
• Select a piece of clothing, or an outfit, that is important to you. Perhaps it represents a strong memory or connection to your culture. Study your piece of clothing in detail: what is the fabric made from, how and where is it manufactured? What logos, symbols, images, text, patterns, or colours are featured, and what is their significance to you? What might this piece of clothing say about you, your identity and your connection to a place, time, generation, community, culture or sub-culture?
• Use your chosen piece of clothing as a starting point to generate ideas for a self-portrait. Create a self-portrait in the medium of your choice. The piece of clothing might feature within the work you make, or it might simply provide a starting point for your research and thinking. In either case, make sure that there is a link between the clothing item and the idea or feeling that you choose to express.
• Consider whether the self-portrait will include your face, and what relationship there might be between your gaze and the viewer. Reflect on how the experience and power of portraiture shifts when you are in control of representing yourself.
• Write a short artist statement outlining your artistic intent, process and points of reference.