Gaugin has been championed and reviled by art history. Born in Peru, he emigrated to France, and secured a job as a stockbroker in Paris. He did quite well as a broker. By the age of 31 he was pulling down 30,000 Francs a year, the equivalent of about $150,000 today. At the age of 35 he gave it all up to be a painter. But his new job was not a success, so in 1891 he left his wife and five children and headed for Tahiti. He stayed there for ten years, returning once to try to sell his work and raise capital to return. His life in Tahiti was tempestuous. He married three times, all teenage island girls (13 and 14). This was considered a marriageable age in the Tahitian culture. And in 1901 when he became seriously ill with syphilis and in trouble with the French authorities, he left town. Alone and impoverished, Gauguin died of a stroke in the Marquesas Islands on May 8, 1903.
I am sorry to present such a glum picture, but it represents so much of what is written about him.
The model for this painting is Teha’amana. She was his first Tahitian muse, lover and eventually wife. In this painting she is the model for both of the women. Gaugin used his wives for the models in countless paintings. To see original: https://bit.ly/3ikgwLb
Inspired by: Paul Gaugin - Tahitian Women on the Beach
