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Painter, 1848 to 1903

Paul Gauguin

Gauguin went to the South Seas to find a world untouched by Europe and painted, in part, the one he had brought with him. New York has three of the best pictures of his Tahitian years.

Born
1848, Paris, France
Died
1903, Atuona, Marquesas Islands
Movement
Post-Impressionism
In New York
3 works in 2 museums

Where to see Paul Gauguin in New York

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art2 works

  1. Ia Orana Maria, by Gauguin: a Tahitian woman in a red cloth carries a child on her shoulder, both with haloes, while two women greet them with joined hands.

    Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary)

    1891

    A Tahitian mother carries her son on her shoulder, both with haloes. Two women greet them with their hands joined, an angel stands half hidden in the flowers, and fruit is laid out in front like an offering.

  2. Two Tahitian Women, by Gauguin: two women stand side by side, one holding a dish of blossom.

    Two Tahitian Women

    1899

    Two women stand side by side, one holding a dish of mango blossom. It is among the calmest of his late pictures.

The Museum of Modern Art1 work

  1. The Seed of the Areoi, by Gauguin: a young Tahitian woman sits on a blue and white cloth with a sprouting seed in her hand.

    The Seed of the Areoi

    1892

    A young woman sits on a blue and white cloth with a sprouting seed in her hand: the earthly bride of the god Oro, from a Polynesian myth Gauguin had read about in a French book.

The life of Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin was born in Paris in 1848, spent part of his childhood in Peru, and was a stockbroker with a wife and five children before he gave everything up to paint. In 1891 he sailed for Tahiti. He came back once, sold little, and returned to the Pacific for good in 1895. He died in the Marquesas Islands in 1903.

What he sent home were flat, strongly coloured pictures of Polynesian women, in which Christian subjects and island myths are mixed. They had more effect on the painters who came after him than almost anything else of their time.

What to know

  • Ia Orana Maria is Tahitian for Hail Mary
  • He counted it the best thing he had done in his first year on the island
  • It came to the Met in 1951
Born
7 June 1848, Paris, France
Died
8 May 1903, Atuona, Marquesas Islands

Paul Gauguin: common questions

Where can you see Paul Gauguin in New York?
At the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary) and Two Tahitian Women. At the Museum of Modern Art: The Seed of the Areoi. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Paul Gauguin's most famous work in New York?
Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary), of 1891, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A Tahitian mother carries her son on her shoulder, both with haloes. Two women greet them with their hands joined, an angel stands half hidden in the flowers, and fruit is laid out in front like an offering.
When and where was Paul Gauguin born?
On 7 June 1848, at Paris, France. Paul Gauguin died on 8 May 1903, at Atuona, Marquesas Islands, aged about 55.
What is Paul Gauguin known for?
Ia Orana Maria is Tahitian for Hail Mary. He counted it the best thing he had done in his first year on the island. It came to the Met in 1951. Paul Gauguin was a French painter, of Post-Impressionism.

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