In a Tahitian forest, figures stretch from right to left, from a baby to youth to an old woman, symbolising life's journey from birth to death. Gauguin painted this nearly four-metre canvas amid illness, poverty and grief for his daughter, regarding it as his spiritual testament.
Key facts
- Artist
- Paul Gauguin1848–1903 · French
- Date
- 1897–98
- Period
- Post-Impressionism1886–1905
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 139.1 × 374.6 cm
- Location
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Boston, United States
Actual size
Compared with an adult 170 cm tall
Palette
#1A2221#423D31#1E3F4A#726549#396274Background
In 1891 Gauguin left Europe for French Tahiti in search of a primitive world untouched by civilisation. Reality fell short of his dreams: he was poor and ill and suffered repeated setbacks.
In 1897 he learned that his beloved daughter Aline had died in France and was devastated. He wrote that he intended to die after finishing this painting; afterwards he did attempt suicide with arsenic, but took so much that he vomited it up and survived.
The painting was sent to Paris for exhibition in 1898 and was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1936.
Technique & composition
Gauguin painted in the manner of : broad areas of intense flat colour separated by dark outlines, without traditional perspective or modelling. Deep blues, emerald greens and golden yellows create a mysterious, dreamlike mood.
The top left and right corners are painted gold, like an ancient fresco with flaking edges. bears the title; the top right the artist's signature and date.
Details
Symbolism
Life read from right to left
Gauguin explained in a letter that the picture should be read from right to left: on the right represents the beginning of life; in the centre represents experience and desire, recalling the forbidden fruit of Eden; on the left represents approaching death.
The idol and the Beyond
In the background a with raised arms represents what Gauguin called “the Beyond”, a spiritual world beyond human life.
The white bird and the lizard
At the old woman's feet holds a lizard in its claws; Gauguin said it represented “the futility of words”.
Stories
- Did you know?
Gauguin said he painted it in a month, “day and night, with unprecedented fervour”, on coarse sackcloth that was unprimed in places.
- Did you know?
Today Gauguin's relationships with young Tahitian girls and his romanticised view of “primitive” cultures are the subject of strong criticism and reassessment.
Legacy
This is Gauguin's most important work and a summit of Symbolist painting. Its flat colour and symbolic meaning deeply influenced Fauvism, Expressionism and Picasso, and its three questions remain at the heart of philosophical and artistic inquiry.
