January 7, 2023
“I shut my eyes in order to see.”
Paul Gauguin
We traveled Southwest about 1/3 the way around the island to our eventual hotel. We passed limestone grottos and beaches of black sand.
We briefly visited the ruins of a Tahitian temple Marae Marae Ta-Ata that dates hundreds of years before the first visitor from Europe. it was quiet here with only the sounds of the jungle birds and a barking dog to break the spell of these old rocks.
Tahiti was not quite what I expected.
The volcanic cliffs rise at great angles to the azure waters and reefs below them. They are covered in dense jungle and are not amenable to housing of any kind. As such, the entire population , like the reefs that encircle the breakwaters, clings to the shore line. I expected endless entreaties to tourists to stop here for the best snorkeling, fruit, beaches kayak rental etc.
There was almost none of that. Most of the towns we passed were filled with the indigenous Polynesians who call this place home. Some of the homes were dilapidated cinderblock festooned with graffiti. Others were tidy suburban dwellings with tropical gardens on thier small front lawns. There were schools and small grocery stores and a surprising lack of typical tourist infrastructure.
"It is like Hawaii 50 years ago", we heard again and again.
70% of the island’s population works in the service industry. Unemployment is around 15%, mostly women and uneducated youth. Despite this statistic, Tahiti remains one of the affluent populations among the Pacific Islands.
I have since learned that Tahiti, like many of the islands here, have resort enclosures that have the typical tourist amenities locked behind their cloistered walls.
Still the jungle is lush and as it dips into the warm waters lapping against the shore, the views are mesmerizing.
Such views are likely what drew the French post impressionist artist Paul Gauguin here in 1890. Gauguin would never achieve real success until after he died. He was self taught and believed strongly in “Painting from memory”. The breadth of his talent is amazing. He was a painter, an impressionist, a sculptor, and was adept at tiles and mosaics.
He also lived an extrardinary life. At one time he worked as a stockbroker, a sailor, writer, a common laborer, a journalist, a sculptor, and an artist. He lived in Peru, Brittany, Paris, Arles, Panama, Tahiti, and finally Marquesas.
He often would dress flamboyantly in order to stand apart. The common trope of the French artist with the blue and white striped shirt, janunty beret, and pipe was a Gauguin invention. But he went further adding wooden clogs and often a blue cape to the ensemble.
He was a contemporary of Vincent van Gogh. Gauguin would later claim to have been instrumental in influencing van Gogh’s art and Vincent did write that he experimented with Gauguin’s theory of “Painting from the imagination”.
It is hard to conceive a more mercurial pair of roommates than Gauguin and van Gogh. Yet that is exactly what came to pass. In a attempt to form thier own art school and colony after early rejections they moved to Arles France. It was there they spent a stormy nine weeks together at van Gogh's yellow house. We visited the place during our last episode.
They fought constantly then, according to Gauguin, van Gogh pulled a razor on him to try and kill him. It happend on a cold Christmas Eve on the sidewalk near the river. He escaped uninjured but that was the same night van Gogh would famously cut a portion of his own left ear off. Gaugiun would leave Arles to other adventures, but van Gogh would descend into further madness spending much of the rest of his life in asylums before ultimately committing suicide.
Two years later Gauguin arrived on the shores of Papeete, Tahiti determined to be inspired by the Island paradise and start again.
He would write-
“I have come to an unalterable decision - to go and live forever in Polynesia. Then I can end my days in peace and freedom, without thoughts of tomorrow and this eternal struggle against idiots.”
It was during this 9 year period that he completed his most famous works and enjoyed some steady success. At least enough to pay the bills although he still had to take an occasional office desk job to make ends meet.
Art historians believe the sensual nature of his works in Tahiti were by far the most important aspect of his body of work here.
It was not without controversy though. Gauguin left his wife and five children behind to move here. In truth they had long been seperated prior to his arrival and she moved back to Denmark.
In the shade of swaying palm trees he dipped into an altogether different lifestyle. He seemed to love the company of very young girls and many of his more sensual paintings were girls as young as 15 years old with whom he had relationships. Still, the work was undeniably beautiful and customs here about early marriage were far different than Europe.
So each will have to make up their own mind about its ultimate value.
He would never enjoy the success and acclaim he craved. Syphllis would consume him and he died a long painful death addicted to morphine on the island of Marquesas , not far from here. He is buried there.
He long sought ultimate inspiration and paradise to create as an artist. Even though he was surrounded by lush tropical beauty it forever eluded him.
It a great story.
We had dinner overlooking the bay. The French influence here is very strong and the dishes reflect that wonderful culture so very far from here. Delicate tournedos a la bordelaise in a reduced wine cream sauce with a glass of Bordeaux wine and piteroles with chocolate and ice cream for dessert.
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