Tahitianerin und Junge

Gauguin painted this in 1899 on his second stay in Tahiti, living in a hut at Punaauia and already in poor health and deep debt. He had come to the Pacific chasing an untouched world to paint, and part of what makes this picture honest is how little of that fantasy survives in it. The young woman, possibly his teenage companion Pau'ura, sits in a European wicker chair in a high-necked missionary gown. The island Gauguin found was a French colony that had been reshaped by traders and churches for decades. He keeps his colors flat and warm, the figures solid and calm against bands of pink and green. The boy stands slightly apart, looking off past the edge of the canvas.