Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)was born in Paris. He entered the firm of a Paris stockbroker and also started to paint at the age of 23 or so. Aged 35, he quit his job and devoted himself solely to painting.
He was a painter, married with children and commercially unsuccessful. From 1886 to 1890 he stayed several times at Pont-Aven, Bretagna, in Southern France, where he met Bernard, Van Gogh and Serusier. Through the interface with them, he developed such an artistic way to create large areas of flat colors.
In 1891, Gauguin left for Tahiti, searching for an imaginary lost tropical paradise. However, Tahiti was already influenced by the European civilization and was not a place Gaugauin was looking for. In 1893 he returned to Paris to hold a one-man exhibition, which received an unenthusiastic reception. Gauguin went back to Tahiti again and in 1903 he died in Hiva Oa, in Marquesas.
This "Delightful Land (Te Nave Nave Fenua)" was created during his first visit to Tahiti. Gauguin quoted Delaroche, an art critic, when he discussed this artwork in his "Intimate Journals" 1 "Fantastical orchard. Its seducing plants stimulate sexual desire of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Her arm timidly extends trying to pick an evil flower. The monster Chimera flutters its red wing to graze her temple." Tahitian Eve with unconstricted body symbolizes Gauguin's longing for the primitive.
Reference: 1. "Asahi/ Museum Series 1: Gauguin and Ohara Museum of Art" (Asahi Shinbun Publishing Co., 1982)
Delightful Land (Te Nave Nave Fenua)
Commentary
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)was born in Paris. He entered the firm of a Paris stockbroker and also started to paint at the age of 23 or so. Aged 35, he quit his job and devoted himself solely to painting.
He was a painter, married with children and commercially unsuccessful. From 1886 to 1890 he stayed several times at Pont-Aven, Bretagna, in Southern France, where he met Bernard, Van Gogh and Serusier. Through the interface with them, he developed such an artistic way to create large areas of flat colors.
In 1891, Gauguin left for Tahiti, searching for an imaginary lost tropical paradise. However, Tahiti was already influenced by the European civilization and was not a place Gaugauin was looking for. In 1893 he returned to Paris to hold a one-man exhibition, which received an unenthusiastic reception. Gauguin went back to Tahiti again and in 1903 he died in Hiva Oa, in Marquesas.
This "Delightful Land (Te Nave Nave Fenua)" was created during his first visit to Tahiti. Gauguin quoted Delaroche, an art critic, when he discussed this artwork in his "Intimate Journals" 1 "Fantastical orchard. Its seducing plants stimulate sexual desire of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Her arm timidly extends trying to pick an evil flower. The monster Chimera flutters its red wing to graze her temple." Tahitian Eve with unconstricted body symbolizes Gauguin's longing for the primitive.
Reference: 1. "Asahi/ Museum Series 1: Gauguin and Ohara Museum of Art" (Asahi Shinbun Publishing Co., 1982)
Painting
Apple Picking
Small Table in Evening Dusk
Song of Songs (Le Cantique des Cantiques)
Haystacks
Waterlilies
Cliff of Gréville
Coutyard at the ‘Rondest House’, Pontoise
Woman Wearing a Hat with Silk Gauze
Delightful Land (Te Nave Nave Fenua)
All Things Die, But All Will Be Resurrected through God’s Love
Wave
Carriage and Pair
Three Dancers in Red Costume
Autumn Sea
Old Horse in the Wasteland
Landscape
Festival of Venis
Hair
Winter Orchard
Beethoven
Landscape of La Ferté-Milon
Annunciation