Gauguin began his artistic life as an Impressionist in Paris, but yearning for a wider world view he experimented with decorative art and bright colours to create what some have termed Symbolism. He painted briefly with Van Gogh but was strongly drawn by the “otherness” of the South Pacific to which he travelled frequently, and finally settled far away from his origins and early influences to create a unique and intensely personal body of work. The new edition of this beautiful new book revels in the scenes of Tahiti, the sunlit bodies, the shapes and styles of the South Pacific each of which have secured him a unique place in the history of art.
