Gauguin [antikvár]

Gauguin was forty-three years old when he fled from Europe to Tahiti in 1891, driven by a "terrible craving for novelty", and for a land still unspoilt by civilisation. He arrived at Papeete on 8th June, and shortly afterwards settled at Mataiea, about forty miles from the capital, on a strip of land where mango, coconut, and bread-fruit trees grew abundantly in the red soil. He adopted the costume and shared the life of the Maoris who were his only neighbours, and tried to discover the secret of their unchanging existence. "I am gradually shedding my civilisation," he wrote, with satisfaction. "I am beginning to think simply " Gauguin had left France with the proceeds of the sale of some thirty pictures at the Hotel Drouot, but his funds were rapidly exhausted. Promises made to him were not kept, and he was soon almost destitute. Weakened by privation, he began to spit blood in March 1892, but went on working indomitably. "I trust in the future, because I want to," he said. "Otherwise I should have blown my brains out long ago." Nevertheless, his return to