Cruel Tales (Exotic Saying)

Gauguin gave up being a stockbroker and family man to strike it out as an artist, with financially unfulfilling results while he was alive. He traveled to Martinique and twice to Tahiti to live a more bohemian, “savage” life with the natives there, finding the idea of their “primitive” lives more conducive to painting — although at this point in history, these islands had been colonized and appropriated (including full-body dress of the women) by the French, much to Gauguin’s disappointment. Despite this, he would mythologize the people there (and himself, as depicted here), creating the lush, groundbreaking works that are today renowned.