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A review by flyingfox02
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
4.0
This book starts off with death: "In 1903, Paul Gauguin died in Atuona on the tiny island of Hiva Oa in French Polynesia. He had lived his last three years there in a hut constructed mostly of bamboo canes and pandanus leaves."
It was at that moment I paused. This sounds familiar.. could it be..? Yes it is! The Moon and Sixpence is a novel by W. S. Maugham inspired by Paul Gauguin's life and I read it in 2023! I love when I find unexpected connections in books. I was excited to delve into this one to see if I'd find other correlations between the fiction and real life. But I didn't, because I have the memory of a stick. (Maugham was mentioned here visiting Gauguin's home in Polynesia though.)
Biographies aren't usually my thing (this might be my first one ever, not counting Wikipedia articles), neither is art. I like admiring it but don't know much about it. With this comprehensive account of Gauguin's life, I had fun learning of the events that led up to his paintings and the artists he influenced or was inspired by. The author also explains the symbolisms that can be found in his art, like why is that dog there, why is the picture composed like this, why use such colours, etc. Gauguin had strong anti-colonial beliefs and was the first Western artist to depict non-White people in his paintings, which were produced when he lived in Polynesia. In his last years he advocated for the rights of the native people, and was beloved by them. I liked these chapters the best, along with the two chapters featuring the Van Gogh brothers, which were most affecting.
Reading about an artist's life turned out to be quite fun, and Sue Prideaux has written a book on Edvard Munch so I might check that out too.
It was at that moment I paused. This sounds familiar.. could it be..? Yes it is! The Moon and Sixpence is a novel by W. S. Maugham inspired by Paul Gauguin's life and I read it in 2023! I love when I find unexpected connections in books. I was excited to delve into this one to see if I'd find other correlations between the fiction and real life. But I didn't, because I have the memory of a stick. (Maugham was mentioned here visiting Gauguin's home in Polynesia though.)
Biographies aren't usually my thing (this might be my first one ever, not counting Wikipedia articles), neither is art. I like admiring it but don't know much about it. With this comprehensive account of Gauguin's life, I had fun learning of the events that led up to his paintings and the artists he influenced or was inspired by. The author also explains the symbolisms that can be found in his art, like why is that dog there, why is the picture composed like this, why use such colours, etc. Gauguin had strong anti-colonial beliefs and was the first Western artist to depict non-White people in his paintings, which were produced when he lived in Polynesia. In his last years he advocated for the rights of the native people, and was beloved by them. I liked these chapters the best, along with the two chapters featuring the Van Gogh brothers, which were most affecting.
Reading about an artist's life turned out to be quite fun, and Sue Prideaux has written a book on Edvard Munch so I might check that out too.