Tahiti: 'Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?' Paul Gauguin (1897)

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? is one of Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings. Gauguin indicated that the painting should be read from right to left, with the three major figure groups illustrating the questions posed in the title. The three women with a child represent the beginning of life; the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of young adulthood; and in the final group, according to the artist, 'an old woman approaching death appears reconciled and resigned to her thoughts'; at her feet, 'a strange white bird...represents the futility of words.' The blue idol in the background apparently represents what Gauguin described as 'the Beyond.' Of its entirety he said, 'I believe that this canvas not only surpasses all my preceding ones, but that I shall never do anything better—or even like it'.

Paul Gauguin was born in Paris in 1848 and spent some of his childhood in Peru. He worked as a stockbroker with little success, and suffered from bouts of severe depression. He also painted. In 1891, Gauguin, frustrated by lack of recognition at home and financially destitute, sailed to the tropics to escape European civilization and 'everything that is artificial and conventional'. His time there, particularly in Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands, was the subject of much interest both then and in modern times due to his alleged sexual exploits. He was known to have had trysts with several native girls, some of whom appear as subjects of his paintings. Gauguin died on 8 May 1903 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery (Cimetière Calvaire), Atuona, Hiva ‘Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History

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FATAL IMPACT