A natural question that needs to be answered is what happened to Tahiti after Gauguin’s death? How did the artist’s dramatic downfall relate to this world responsible for it? What we certainly know is that he was excited with this journey, a feeling which is conveyed throughout his entire journal. He wanted to escape civilization, to forget his entire past in order to embrace a primitive world, and finally a new way of thinking. If we return to Gauguin’s words at the beginning of the essay, the Tahitian experience did not leave him “wiser”, but totally opposite. He thought he would gain a better knowledge of the world, but in fact he did not gain anything, and lost one of his most important treasures: civilization. Although Gauguin was irremediably changed, he did not leave any battle “scars” on the Idol, as his European civilization was completely dissolved in the islands, during a one way cultural flow. His opponent and later master, the idol, remained the same throughout the meeting with Gauguin, while only the artist’s perception of it suffered changes. This proves an interesting fact about Gauguin and his staying in the islands: while Tahiti had a powerful effect on him, finally leading to his spiritual death, the painter did not cause any reaction force on the islands. That is, his staying there was insignificant, showing how bitter the painter’s defeat is. Tahiti remained Tahiti even after Gauguin’s terrible spiritual death.
Image:
Thank you. 1893. Private Collection