Figure 13.11 Two Tahitian Women, 1899, by Paul Gauguin, oil on canvas, 94 × 72 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Financial Difficulties
In spite of his efforts to live in a completely natural way, Gauguin needed money and he found it difficult to get his paintings sold.
In his search for the perfect place, he left Tahiti and travelled to Hivaoa in French Polynesia. He refused to pay taxes to the French colonial authorities and was imprisoned. He died soon after.
Two Tahitian Women
This gentle depiction of beautiful, mysterious women shows Gauguin’s image of a mythical paradise (Fig. 13.11).
CHAPTER 13 POST-IMPRESSIONISM
The women carry a basket of mango blossoms, like an offering of their innocence and purity. It follows the artistic tradition of comparing a woman’s breasts to flowers or fruit.
Art Elements and
Design Principles Cézanne called his pictures ‘constructions after nature’. He translated nature into patterns, shapes and colours. He said: ‘Treat nature by means of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone.’
