1848-1903: between these figures - the whole life of the largest, great, brilliant painter Paul Gauguin.
"The only way to become God is to do as He does: to create."
Paul Gauguin
in the photo: a fragment of the picture Paul Gauguin"Self-portrait with palette", 1894
Details of life Paul Gauguin formed one of the most unusual biographies in the history of art. His life really gave different people reasons to talk about it, admire, laugh, resent and kneel.
Paul Gauguin: The Early Years
Paul Eugene Henri Gauguin Born in Paris on June 7, 1848 in the family of journalist Clovis Gauguin, a staunch radical. After the defeat of the June uprising, the family Gauguin for security reasons, she was forced to move to relatives in Peru, where Clovis intended to publish his own magazine. But on the way to South America, the journalist died of a heart attack, leaving his wife with two small children. We must pay tribute to the mental stamina of the artist's mother, who alone, without complaints, raised children.
A shining example of courage in a family environment fields was his grandmother Flora Tristan, one of the first socialist and feminist in the country, who published in 1838 the autobiographical book "The Wanderings of a Pariah". From her Paul Gauguin inherited not only external resemblance, but also her character, her temperament, indifference to public opinion and love of travel.
Memories of life with relatives in Peru were so dear Gauguin that he later called himself a "Peruvian savage". At first, nothing foretold him the fate of a great artist. After 6 years of living in Peru, the family returned to France. But the gray provincial life in Orleans and studying at a Parisian boarding school got tired Gauguin, and at the age of 17, against the will of his mother, he entered the service of the French merchant fleet and traveled to Brazil, Chile, Peru, and then off the coast of Denmark and Norway. It was the first, by generally accepted standards, shame, which Paul brought to his family. The mother, who died during his voyage, did not forgive her son and, as a punishment, deprived him of any inheritance. Returning to Paris in 1871, Gauguin with the help of his guardian Gustave Arosa, a friend of his mother, he got a position as a broker in one of the most reputable stock exchange firms in the capital. field was 23 years old and had a brilliant career ahead of him. He started a family quite early and became an exemplary father of a family (he had 5 children).
"Family in the Garden" Paul Gauguin, 1881, oil on canvas, New Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhagen
Painting as a hobby
But their stable well-being Gauguin without hesitation, he sacrificed his passion for painting. paint Gauguin started in the 1870s. At first it was a Sunday hobby, and Paul modestly assessed his capabilities, and the family considered his passion for painting a sweet eccentricity. Through Gustave Arosa, who loved art and collected paintings, Paul Gauguin met several impressionists, enthusiastically accepting their ideas.
After participating in 5 exhibitions of the Impressionists, the name Gauguin sounded in artistic circles: the artist was already shining through the Parisian broker. AND Gauguin decided to devote himself entirely to painting, and not to be, in his words, a "Sunday artist". The stock market crisis of 1882, which crippled the financial situation, also contributed to the choice in favor of art. Gauguin. But the financial crisis also affected painting: paintings sold poorly, and family life Gauguin turned into a fight for survival. Moving to Rouen, and later to Copenhagen, where the artist sold canvas products, and his wife gave French lessons, did not save him from poverty, and marriage Gauguin broke up. Gauguin returned to Paris with his youngest son, where he found neither peace of mind nor well-being. To feed his son, the great artist was forced to earn money by posting posters. “I knew real poverty,” wrote Gauguin in "Notebook for Alina", his beloved daughter. - It is true that, despite everything, suffering sharpens the talent. However, it should not be too much, otherwise it will kill you.”
"Flowers and a Japanese book", Paul Gauguin, 1882, oil on wood, New Carlsberg Glyptothek, Copenhagen
Formation of your own style
for painting Gauguin it was a turning point. The artist's school was impressionism, which reached its peak at that time, and the teacher was Camille Pissarro, one of the founders of impressionism. The name of the patriarch of impressionism Camille Pissarro allowed Gauguin take part in five of the eight Impressionist exhibitions between 1874 and 1886.
"Waterhole", Paul Gauguin, 1885, oil on canvas, private collection
In the mid-1880s, the crisis of impressionism began, and Paul Gauguin began to find his way in art. A trip to the picturesque Brittany, which preserved its ancient traditions, marked the beginning of changes in the artist's work: he moved away from impressionism and developed his own style, combining elements of Breton culture with a radically simplified style of writing - Synthetism. This style is characterized by a simplification of the image, transmitted by bright, unusually shining colors, and deliberately excessive decorativeness.
Synthetism appeared and manifested itself around 1888 in the works of other artists of the Pont-Aven school— Émile Bernard, Louis Anquetin, Paul Serusier and others. A feature of the synthetic style was the desire of artists to “synthesize” the visible and imaginary worlds, and often what was created on the canvas was a memory of what they had once seen. As a new trend in art, synthetism gained prominence after an organized Gauguin exhibitions in the Parisian café Volpini in 1889. New ideas Gauguin became the aesthetic concept of the well-known Nabis group, from which a new artistic movement, Art Nouveau, grew.
"Vision after the sermon (Struggle of Jacob with an angel)", Paul Gauguin, 1888, oil on canvas, 74.4 x 93.1 cm, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
The art of ancient peoples as a source of inspiration for European painting
The crisis of Impressionism put the artists who abandoned the blind "imitation of nature" with the need to find new sources of inspiration. The art of the ancient peoples became a truly inexhaustible source of inspiration for European painting and had a strong influence on its development.
Paul Gauguin style
Phrase from a letter Gauguin"You can always find solace in the primitive" testifies to his heightened interest in primitive art. Style Gauguin, harmoniously combining impressionism, symbolism, Japanese graphics and children's illustration, was perfect for depicting "uncivilized" peoples. If the Impressionists, each in their own way, sought to analyze the colorful world, conveying reality without a special psychological and philosophical basis, then Gauguin not only offered virtuoso technique, he reflected in art:
"For me, a great artist is the formula for the greatest mind."
His paintings are metaphors full of harmony with complex meanings, often permeated with pagan mysticism. The figures of people, which he painted from nature, acquired a symbolic, philosophical meaning. With color relationships, the artist conveyed mood, state of mind, thoughts: for example, the pink color of the earth in the paintings is a symbol of joy and abundance.
"Day of the Deity (Mahana no Natua)", Paul Gauguin, 1894, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Dreamer by nature Paul Gauguin all his life he was looking for an earthly paradise in order to capture it in his works. Looked for him in Brittany, Martinique, Tahiti, the Marquesas. Three trips to Tahiti (in 1891, 1893 and 1895), where the artist painted a number of his famous works, brought disappointment: the primitiveness of the island was lost. Diseases introduced by Europeans reduced the population of the island from 70 to 7 thousand, and along with the islanders, their rituals, art and local crafts died out. in the picture Gauguin“Girl with a Flower” one can feel the duality of the cultural structure on the island at that time: this is eloquently evidenced by the European dress of the girl.
"Girl with a flower" Paul Gauguin
In their search for a new, unique artistic language Gauguin was not alone: the desire for change in art united dissimilar and original artists ( Seurat, Signac, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard and others), giving birth to a new trend - post-impressionism. Despite the fundamental dissimilarity of styles and handwritings, in the work of the Post-Impressionists, not only ideological unity can be traced, but also commonality in everyday life—as a rule, loneliness and the tragedy of life situations. The public did not understand them, and they did not always understand each other. In reviews of the exhibition of paintings Gauguin brought from Tahiti, one could read:
"To amuse your children, send them to an exhibition Gauguin. They will amuse themselves in front of colored pictures depicting four-armed female creatures sprawled on a billiard table ... ".
After such derogatory criticism Paul Gauguin he did not stay at home and in 1895 again, and for the last time, he left for Tahiti. In 1901, the artist moved to Domenique Island (Marquesas Islands), where he died of a heart attack on May 8, 1903. Paul Gauguin He was buried at the local Catholic cemetery of Domenic Island (Hiva Oa).
"Riders on the Coast" Paul Gauguin, 1902
Even after the death of the artist, the French authorities in Tahiti, who persecuted him during his lifetime, mercilessly cracked down on his artistic heritage. Ignorant officials sold his paintings, sculptures, wooden reliefs under the hammer for pennies. The gendarme conducting the auction broke a carved cane in front of the assembled people. Gauguin, but hid his paintings and, returning to Europe, opened a museum of the artist. Recognition came to Gauguin 3 years after his death, when 227 of his works were exhibited in Paris. The French press, which maliciously ridiculed the artist during his lifetime about each of his few exhibitions, began to print laudatory odes to his art. Articles, books and memoirs were written about him.
"When is the wedding?", Paul Gauguin, 1892, oil on canvas, Basel, Switzerland (until 2015)
Once in a letter to Paul Serusier Gauguin Desperately suggested: “... my paintings scare me. The public will never accept them." However, the pictures Gauguin the public accepts and buys for big money. For example, in 2015, an unnamed buyer from Qatar (according to the IMF—the richest country in the world since 2010) bought a painting Gauguin"When is the wedding?", for 300 million dollars. Painting Gauguin received the honorary status of the most expensive painting in the world.
To be fair, it should be noted that Gauguin did not care at all about the lack of public interest in his work. He was convinced: “Everyone should follow their passion. I know that people will understand me less and less. But can it really matter?" Entire life Paul Gauguin was a fight against philistinism and prejudice. He always lost, but thanks to his obsession, he never gave up. The love for art that lived in his indomitable heart became a guiding star for the artists who followed in his footsteps.
Paul Gauguin was born in 1848 in Paris on June 7. His father was a journalist. After the revolutionary upheavals in France, the father of the future artist gathered the whole family and went to Peru by ship, intending to stay with the parents of his wife Alina and open his own magazine there. But on the way, he had a heart attack and died.
Paul Gauguin lived in Peru until the age of seven. Returning to France, the Gauguin family settled in Orleans. But Paul was not at all interested in living in the provinces and was bored. At the first opportunity, he left the house. In 1865 he took a job as a worker on a merchant ship. Time passed, and the number of countries visited by Pohl increased. For several years, Paul Gauguin became a real sailor who had been in various sea troubles. Having entered the service of the French navy, Paul Gauguin continued to surf the expanses of the seas and oceans.
After the death of his mother, Paul left the maritime business and took up work at the stock exchange, which his guardian helped him find. The work was good and it seemed that he would work there for a long time.
Marriage of Paul Gauguin
Gauguin married in 1873 a Dane, Matt-Sophie Gad.. For 10 years of marriage, the wife gave birth to five children, and Gauguin's position in society was becoming stronger. In his free time, Gauguin pursued his favorite hobby - painting.
Gauguin was not at all confident in his artistic powers. One day, one of Paul Gauguin's paintings was selected for display at an exhibition, but he did not tell anyone in the family about it.
In 1882, an exchange crisis began in the country, and Gauguin's further successful work began to be questionable. It was this fact that helped determine the fate of Gauguin as an artist.
By 1884 Gauguin was already living in Denmark. because there was not enough money to live in France. Gauguin's wife taught French in Denmark, and he tried to engage in trade, but he did not succeed. Disagreements began in the family, and the marriage broke up in 1885. The mother stayed with 4 children in Denmark, and Gauguin returned to Paris with his son Clovis.
Living in Paris was difficult, and Gauguin had to move to Brittany. He liked it here. The Bretons are a very peculiar people with their own traditions and worldview, and even with their own language. Gauguin felt great in Brittany, he again woke up the feelings of a traveler.
In 1887, taking the painter Charles Laval with them, they went to Panama. The trip was not very successful. Gauguin had to work hard to provide for himself. Having fallen ill with malaria and dysentery, Paul had to return to his homeland. Friends accepted him and helped him recover, and already in 1888 Paul Gauguin again moved to Brittany.
The Van Gogh case
Gauguin knew Van Gogh who wanted to organize a colony of artists in Arles. It was there that he invited his friend. All financial expenses were borne by Van Gogh's brother Theo (we mentioned this case in). For Gauguin, this was a good opportunity to escape and live without any worries. The views of the artists diverged. Gauguin began to lead Van Gogh, began to present himself as a teacher. Van Gogh, already suffering from a psychological disorder at that time, could not endure this. At some point, he attacked Paul Gauguin with a knife. Without overtaking his victim, Van Gogh cut off his ear, and Gauguin went back to Paris.
After this incident, Paul Gauguin spent time traveling between Paris and Brittany. And in 1889, having visited an art exhibition in Paris, he decided to settle in Tahiti. Of course, Gauguin had no money, and he began to sell his paintings. Having saved about 10 thousand francs, he went to the island.
In the summer of 1891, Paul Gauguin set to work, buying a small thatched hut on the island. Many paintings of this time depict Gauguin's wife Tehur, who was only 13 years old. Her parents gladly gave her as a wife to Gauguin. The work was fruitful, Gauguin painted many interesting paintings in Tahiti. But time passed, and the money ran out, besides, Gauguin fell ill with syphilis. He could no longer endure it, and left for France, where a small inheritance awaited him. But he did not spend much time at home. In 1895, he again returned to Tahiti, where he also lived in poverty and poverty.
french artist Paul Gauguin traveled a lot, but the island of Tahiti was a special place for him - the land of "ecstasy, tranquility and art", which became a second home for the artist. It is here that he writes his most outstanding works, one of which - "Are you jealous?"- deserves special attention.
For the first time, Paul Gauguin arrived in Tahiti in 1891. He hoped to find here the embodiment of his dream of a golden age, of living in harmony with nature and people. The port of Papeete, which met him, disappointed the artist: an unremarkable town, a cold meeting with local colonists, and a lack of orders for portraits made him look for a new haven. Gauguin spent about two years in the native village of Mataiea, it was one of the most fruitful periods in his work: in 2 years he painted about 80 canvases. 1893-1895 he spends in France, and then leaves again for Oceania, never to return.
Gauguin always spoke of Tahiti with particular warmth: “I was captivated by this land and its people, simple, not spoiled by civilization. To create something new, we must turn to our origins, to the childhood of mankind. The Eva I choose is almost an animal, so she remains chaste, even naked. All Venuses exhibited in the Salon look indecent, disgustingly lustful ... ". Gauguin did not tire of admiring Tahitian women, their seriousness and simplicity, majesty and spontaneity, unusual beauty and natural charm. He painted them on all his canvases.
Painting "Are you jealous?" was written during Gauguin's first stay in Tahiti, in 1892. It was during this period of creativity that an extraordinary harmony of color and form appeared in his style. Starting from an ordinary plot, peeped in the everyday life of Tahitian women, the artist creates real masterpieces in which color becomes the main carrier of symbolic content. Critic Paul Delaroche wrote: "If Gauguin, representing jealousy, does this with pink and purple, then it seems that all nature takes part in this."
The artist explained his creative style during this period as follows: “I take as a pretext any theme borrowed from life or nature, and, despite the placement of lines and colors, I get a symphony and harmony that does not represent anything completely real in the exact meaning of this word ...”. Gauguin denied the reality that the realists wrote - he created a different one.
The plot of the picture "Are you jealous?" also peeped in the daily life of Tahitian women: aboriginal sisters, after bathing, bask on the shore and talk about love. One of the memories suddenly causes jealousy of one of the sisters, which made the second suddenly sit down on the sand and exclaim: "Ah, you're jealous!" The artist wrote these words in the lower left corner of the canvas, reproducing Tahitian speech in Latin letters. From this accidental episode of someone else's life, a masterpiece of art was born.
Both girls depicted in the picture are naked, but in their nakedness, despite their sensual poses, there is nothing shameful, strange, erotic or vulgar. Their nakedness is as natural as the extraordinarily bright exotic nature around. According to the European canons of beauty, they can hardly be called attractive, but they seem beautiful to Gauguin, and he fully manages to capture his emotional state on the canvas.
Gauguin attached special importance to this picture. In 1892, he told a friend in a letter: "I have recently painted a magnificent picture of nudes, two women on the beach, which I think is the best thing I have ever done." Tahitian women are mysterious and inexplicably beautiful, just like others
The controversial nature of the French post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin and his unusual fate have created a special new reality in his work, where color plays a dominant role. Unlike the Impressionists, who attached importance to shadows, the artist conveyed his thoughts through a restrained composition, a clear contour of the figures and a color scheme. Gauguin's maximalism, his rejection of European civilization and restraint, his increased interest in the cultures of the islands of South America alien to Europe, the introduction of a new concept of "synthetism" and the desire to gain a sense of paradise 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 Franco-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. The unremarkable life of a provincial town quickly got tired of Paul. Adventurous character traits led him to a merchant ship, and then to the navy, in which Paul visited Brazil, Panama, the islands of Oceania, 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 Arosa took custody of him, who arranged for Paul in a stock exchange firm. Decent earnings, 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 Metta-Sofia Gard, who accompanied the wealthy Danish heiress. The magnificent forms of the governess, determination, laughing face and manner of speaking without deliberate timidity subdued Gauguin. Metta-Sophia Gad was not distinguished by sensuality, did not recognize coquetry, freely held herself and expressed herself directly, which distinguished her from other young ladies. This repulsed many men, but on the contrary, the dreamer Gauguin was captivated. In self-confidence, he saw an original character, and the presence of a girl drove away the loneliness that tormented him. Metta seemed to him a patroness, in whose arms he can feel calm like a child. The proposal of the wealthy Gauguin saved Mette from having to think about their 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 think that her well-to-do respectable life would be broken by the innocent brush of the artist in the hands of her husband, who one winter day would announce to her that from now on she would only be engaged in painting, and she herself 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 hateful duties, could he be himself. Having reached a critical point, having retired from the exchange, which brought a good income, Gauguin was convinced that everything was far from being so simple. Savings were melting, the paintings were not sold, but the return to work on the stock exchange and the rejection of the newfound freedom horrified Gauguin.
Uncertainly, groping, moving blindly, Gauguin tried to catch the world of colors and forms raging in him. Under the influence of Manet, at that time he painted a number of still lifes, created a cycle of works on the theme of the coast of Brittany. But the gravity of civilization makes him go to Martinique, participate in the construction of the Panama Canal, in the Antilles to recover from swamp fever.
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 unites artists into a school of "color synthesis", for which the characteristic features were simplification and generalization of forms: the outline of a dark line was filled with a color spot. This method gave the works expressiveness and at the same time decorative effect, making them very bright. It is in this manner that “Jacob's struggle with an angel”, “A cafe in Arles” (1888) are written. This was all significantly different from the play of shadows, the play of light breaking through the foliage, the glare on the water - all those techniques that are so characteristic of the Impressionists.
After the failure of the exhibition of the 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 of this period are distinguished by an open solar brightness that conveys 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 terminated by a forced return to France due to poor physical health.
fatal friendship
Gauguin spends some time in Paris, Brittany, stops with Van Gogh in Arles, where a tragic incident occurs. Enthusiastic fans of Gauguin in Brittany unwittingly made it possible for the artist 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 return to Tahiti some time later.
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 the young wife of Gauguin, Tehura, whom her parents willingly married at the age of thirteen.
The constant lack of money, health problems, a serious venereal disease caused by promiscuity with local girls forced Gauguin to return to France again. Having received an inheritance, the artist returned to Tahiti, then to the island of Hiva Oa, where in May 1903 he died of a heart attack.
Three weeks after the death of Gauguin, his property was described and sold under the hammer 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 bought at auction by naval officers. The most expensive work "Motherhood" went under the hammer for one hundred and fifty francs, and the appraiser showed the "Breton village under the snow" upside down, giving it the name ... "Niagara Falls".
Postimpressionist 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, bringing a rejection of traditional naturalism to the history of modern painting, taking abstract symbols and figures of nature as a starting point, emphasizing amazing and mysterious colors.
Literature used in writing the article:
"Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Painting", compiled by E.V. Ivanova
"Encyclopedia of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism", compiled by T.G. Petrovets
"Life of Gauguin", A. Perryush
Marina Staskevich
The naked woman was a common sight in South America, and this had a great influence on the rest of Gauguin's life. Later, he always felt absolutely free and uninhibited precisely in the company of naked women. In 1855, Paul and his mother returned to Paris. At 17, he decided to become a sailor to see the world. After 6 years, he left the sea and decided to become a stockbroker. At first he even got a little rich, and then, after the collapse of the Paris stock exchange in 1883, he decided to concentrate all his efforts on art. This decision destroyed his family, doomed him to a half-starved existence and gave the world magnificent works of art. Gauguin became close friends with other artists of his time, such as Pissarro, Cezanne and Van Gogh, and in the 80s he actively participated in exhibitions of the Impressionists. At the end of 1888, he lived with Van Gogh for two and a half months in the "yellow house" in Arles. They turned out to be completely incompatible characters, and Gauguin left for Paris. In 1891, Gauguin managed to sell thirty of his paintings. Feeling ever-increasing alienation in relation to his wife and, in general, to the whole of Western civilization, Gauguin left for Tahiti. Gauguin spent the rest of his life in the southern latitudes, returning only once for two years to Europe in 1893. He died in poverty, forgotten by everyone, in the Marquesas Islands.
"Two Women" by Gauguin, fragment
From a young age, when Gauguin sailed the seas and oceans, and until the last months of his life, when he died of syphilis in the Marquesas Islands, Gauguin always led a very stormy and active sex life. In 1873, when he married a tall, beautiful Danish woman, Matt Sophie Gad, Gauguin began to lead a very respectable lifestyle. When in 1883 Gauguin decided to leave the job of a broker on the stock exchange forever, Matt was terribly angry, and her parents, in whose house Gauguin and his wife lived in Copenhagen for some time, ridiculed him. The situation in the family was tense to the limit. The almost complete lack of money also played an important role in the development of events. Gauguin and Matt divorced. However, even after leaving for Tahiti, Gauguin still hoped that someday Matt and his five children would come to him and they would live together again. They never arrived.
Arriving in Tahiti in 1891, Gauguin found inspiration there and a huge number of naked women. At first, he simply enjoyed the local custom of spending the night in his hut with a new woman each time. Soon, however, he realized that this wonderful custom greatly hindered his creativity. He passionately desired to find the one and only woman whom he could call his chosen one. Soon, in a nearby village, he was introduced to a beautiful young girl named Theura. She immediately liked Gauguin. Convinced that she voluntarily entered into an alliance with him and that she did not have any diseases, Gauguin took Theura to live in his hut. After a week of living together with Gauguin, Theura agreed to stay in his hut. Gauguin later often used Theura as a model for his work.
In 1893, he left for France, leaving the pregnant Teura in Tahiti. In Paris, he renewed his sexual relationship with Juliette Huet, an ugly, reserved woman who worked as a seamstress. He also began a relationship that later brought him a lot of trouble with a 13-year-old homeless half-Indian half-Malaika, whom everyone called Anna Yavanskaya. She distracted him from work all the time, and when the two of them left for Brittany, it immediately became clear that the locals did not like her very much. One day, she started bullying a group of kids walking past her. A scuffle arose, which turned into a fight, during which Gauguin was beaten to a pulp by local residents who came to the rescue. They stopped beating him only when he lost consciousness. After some time, when Gogen had not yet fully recovered, Anna left him forever, taking with her from the apartment where they lived, all valuable things, except for his paintings.
When Gauguin returned to Tahiti in 1895, he was sure that his happy family life with Theura would continue. It turned out, however, that Theura had married an islander. week. Te ura, however, lived with Gauguin in his hut, but she was so frightened by the ulcers that appeared on his body from syphilis that she returned back to her husband. Gauguin lost his regular partner, but acquired a large number of new ones. Once he even complained: "These girls are just crazy, they climb right into my bed every night. Last night, for example, I had three of them at once." He again began to look for "a serious woman to bring into the house" and found a pretty 14-year-old Paura. She did not have such a stimulating effect on his work as Theura, but he nevertheless painted her naked and later declared himself: "This is the best of all that I painted."
Paul Gauguin "Te Poipoi (Morning)". Reproduction from oldmasterpiece.com
In 1901, Gauguin moved to one of the Marquesas Islands and built himself a hut, which he decorated with pornographic photographs. He agreed to sexual relations with almost all local women, who often came to his hut. All of them were driven by curiosity: they really wanted to look at the terrible ulcers with which syphilis awarded Gauguin's legs. When some unfamiliar woman entered his hut, Gauguin took off her clothes, examined her body, and then said: "I have to draw you."
In 1903, Gauguin died of a heart attack.
Gauguin once remarked: “In Europe, sexual intercourse is the result of love. In Oceania, love is the result of sexual intercourse. Who is right here? They say that a person who gives his body to another commits a sin. sells her body. Women want to be free. It is their right. But it is not men who stand in their way to such freedom. A woman will be free the day she realizes that her honor is not stored in the place that is in below her navel. It is on this day that she will be free. And, perhaps, healthier."
