Arearea

By 1892 Gauguin had been in Tahiti for about a year, having left France to find a life he imagined was simpler and older. This is what he made of it. Two women sit in the front, and just beside them stands a red dog. That dog drew a lot of mockery when the picture was shown in Paris, because dogs are not red, but Gauguin was past caring whether his colours matched the world. The sky is gone. Flat planes of green, yellow and red hold everything in place instead. In the background women gather around a large idol he invented, enlarging a small Maori carving into something like a seated Buddha. The Tahitian title means joyfulness. Gauguin thought it one of his best, and in 1895 he bought it back before leaving Europe for good.