PAPEETE, Tahiti -- Paul Gauguin was probably Tahiti's most unlikely cultural ambassador.
The French painter had originally hoped for a trip to Indochina, but his plans fell through. Settling on Tahiti, he imagined an unspoiled paradise -- and instead found a society overseen by missionaries and French bureaucrats. He was sick with syphilis and other diseases during his time here, suffering so badly that he swallowed arsenic to try to kill himself.
Despite it all, Gauguin's Polynesian paintings are all grace and mystery, evoking island life as he wanted to see it: a place where languorous women smile into the distance, horses graze in vanilla groves and baskets overflow with breadfruit and bananas.
In Tahiti today, you have to look hard to find tributes to Gauguin. It's astonishing, but the South Pacific island's museums have not a single Gauguin painting.
This year, to mark the 100th anniversary of Gauguin's death on May 9, Paris is hosting at least two major exhibits of the post-Impressionist painter.
Yet French Polynesia, where Gauguin made his name, will likely have only a few minor shows: a photo retrospective, for example, or an exhibit on paintings of Tahiti -- without any by Gauguin.
Unfortunately, in Tahiti, most things evoking Gauguin's memory are kitschy or touristy.
There's a Paul Gauguin cruise ship. Visitors can buy Gauguin shot glasses, coffee beans and chips. A brand of Polynesian bottled water, Vaimato, has a label showing a Gauguin painting of a mother and child at a waterfall.
Anyone in Tahiti on a Gauguin pilgrimage will have to do some digging. Even those who have just a passing interest in the painter might be inspired to learn more once they've seen a Tahitian sunset or slept in the shade of a banyan tree.
Tour guide William Leeteg is one source of help. Leeteg grew up on the island, and his father was Edgar William Leeteg, an American artist who lived in Tahiti. Leeteg's half-day guided tours in English bring visitors on a loop of the island; en route, he points out where one of Gauguin's houses stood and takes visitors to a grotto where the painter bathed.
The tour includes a stop at the island's Gauguin museum. It's set on the seaside, with a mountain rising in the background. Ginger blossoms and ferns line tile walkways. A few wandering roosters poke around the Tiki statues in the gardens.
The interesting little museum recounts Gauguin's life through artifacts and photos. It has a few wooden spoons carved by Gauguin, and it has a sizable collection of Gauguin fakes.
What's missing, of course, are his evocative paintings.
The museum and the local government are in a spat, and the government has cut funding, leaving the museum to worry about its future and rely on its souvenir stand for income, museum officials said.
Most visitors to the museum are tourists. Yet most people don't come to Tahiti for culture, they come to swim, dive and surf. Many make a cursory stop in Tahiti before going on to other paradise islands, like Bora Bora or Moorea, which are covered with luxury resorts.
As for Tahitians, most simply aren't interested in Gauguin, says Bellinda Hart, who heads the association that runs the museum. They're focused on their local traditions -- like wood sculpture and intricate geometric tattooing.
"Painting came with the whites," Hart said. "Most Tahitians know who Gauguin is, without seeking out information about his life. They know he's a French painter who was interested in Polynesia."
Tahiti is part of French Polynesia -- former colonies that are now French overseas territories. It is still governed in part by Paris, which is halfway around the world. Tahitians speak French, and most visitors eat croissants and drink cafe creme.
The island's capital, Papeete, can be stifling, with ugly modern buildings, hectic traffic and overpriced shops selling postcards, pareos and black pearls. One site worth visiting -- though very overpriced -- is the covered market, which sells straw bags, shell jewelry and carved wooden bowls.
To get a glimpse of island nature as Gauguin might have seen it, visitors should rent a car and see the more rural side of the island, which has black sand beaches with excellent surfing and mist-capped green hills in the distance. A trip all the way around the island, with stops, takes about a day. Most visitors will want to see the island's waterfalls, eat at stands selling tangy mangos and floury breadfruit, and stop at the Gauguin museum.
Here, the focus is on Gauguin's notorious life, not on his work.
The exhibit stretches from Gauguin's birth in 1848, tracing his childhood in Peru, his careers as a merchant marine and a successful stockbroker, and his decision to become a painter.
At 35, a father of five, Gauguin left his job, saying, "From now on, I will paint every day."
In 1891, Gauguin abandoned his wife and five children, setting off for Tahiti. In an interview before leaving, he told Echo de Paris: "I wish to live in peace and to avoid being influenced by our civilization. I only desire to create a simple art."
Thus began his life in Tahiti, where he took a series of teenage lovers, painted constantly, struggled with illness and tried to cut himself off from "civilization."
Gauguin returned to Paris once before his death, putting 41 of his brilliant Tahiti paintings up for sale. Only eight sold.
The painter died in 1903 back in French Polynesia, worn out by a life of hard living. His body was found at his home on the Marquesas Islands, where he had posted a sign on the door reading: "House of Pleasure."
There was no eulogy at his burial, nor were there flowers. A local civil servant, taking note of Gauguin's death, wrote that there was little hope of repaying his debts: "The few pictures left by the late painter ... have little prospect of finding purchasers."
The Hotel Royal Tahitien, just outside Papeete, is set on the beach, with an excellent restaurant and a small pool. Rooms (prices start at just over $100 per night for a single) are comfortable and the staff is friendly. A trip from the hotel into the city center takes only about five minutes by bus or car. (Tel. 689-50-40-40)
The Sheraton Hotel Tahiti (Tel. 689-86-48-48) is located in its own lagoon just a few minutes outside Papeete. Doubles start at $150 per night. The hotel offers a full range of spa services, as well as activities including snorkeling, scuba diving, horseback riding and excursions to the Gauguin museum.
The Manihi Pearl Beach Resort is located on a coral reef in the Tuamotu archipelago (a short flight from Papeete) and has overwater bungalows, a restaurant and bar, a swimming pool and a dive center. The resort also offers diving, snorkeling, and boat excursions. Standard double beach bungalows start at just over $100 per night. Overwater bungalows (with private sundecks and glass floors) start at $165 per night.
Note that, because the weather is tropically warm year-round in Tahiti, hotel prices do not vary from month to month.
La Petite Auberge on Pont de l'Est (Tel. 689-42-86-13) in Papeete serves traditional French and Polynesian cuisine, while Le Lion d'or on the Rue Afarerii (Tel. 689-42-66-50) offers a meat- and seafood-heavy menu in a pleasant beachside dining room.
For outdoor concerts and Tahitian dancing, as well as delicious couscous, visit Casablanca on PK9 Seaside in the Taina marina (Tel. 689-43-91-35).
Air France and Aeroflot operate joint flights connecting Moscow and Papeete, via Paris and Los Angeles, with several flights per week. Call Air France's Moscow office at 937-3839/3837 for more information.
Contact English-speaking guide William Leeteg at 689-77-20-03.
For more information, visit Tahiti's official tourism web site at www.gototahiti.com
The French painter had originally hoped for a trip to Indochina, but his plans fell through. Settling on Tahiti, he imagined an unspoiled paradise -- and instead found a society overseen by missionaries and French bureaucrats. He was sick with syphilis and other diseases during his time here, suffering so badly that he swallowed arsenic to try to kill himself.
Despite it all, Gauguin's Polynesian paintings are all grace and mystery, evoking island life as he wanted to see it: a place where languorous women smile into the distance, horses graze in vanilla groves and baskets overflow with breadfruit and bananas.
In Tahiti today, you have to look hard to find tributes to Gauguin. It's astonishing, but the South Pacific island's museums have not a single Gauguin painting.
This year, to mark the 100th anniversary of Gauguin's death on May 9, Paris is hosting at least two major exhibits of the post-Impressionist painter.
Yet French Polynesia, where Gauguin made his name, will likely have only a few minor shows: a photo retrospective, for example, or an exhibit on paintings of Tahiti -- without any by Gauguin.
Unfortunately, in Tahiti, most things evoking Gauguin's memory are kitschy or touristy.
There's a Paul Gauguin cruise ship. Visitors can buy Gauguin shot glasses, coffee beans and chips. A brand of Polynesian bottled water, Vaimato, has a label showing a Gauguin painting of a mother and child at a waterfall.
Anyone in Tahiti on a Gauguin pilgrimage will have to do some digging. Even those who have just a passing interest in the painter might be inspired to learn more once they've seen a Tahitian sunset or slept in the shade of a banyan tree.
Tour guide William Leeteg is one source of help. Leeteg grew up on the island, and his father was Edgar William Leeteg, an American artist who lived in Tahiti. Leeteg's half-day guided tours in English bring visitors on a loop of the island; en route, he points out where one of Gauguin's houses stood and takes visitors to a grotto where the painter bathed.
The tour includes a stop at the island's Gauguin museum. It's set on the seaside, with a mountain rising in the background. Ginger blossoms and ferns line tile walkways. A few wandering roosters poke around the Tiki statues in the gardens.
The interesting little museum recounts Gauguin's life through artifacts and photos. It has a few wooden spoons carved by Gauguin, and it has a sizable collection of Gauguin fakes.
What's missing, of course, are his evocative paintings.
The museum and the local government are in a spat, and the government has cut funding, leaving the museum to worry about its future and rely on its souvenir stand for income, museum officials said.
Most visitors to the museum are tourists. Yet most people don't come to Tahiti for culture, they come to swim, dive and surf. Many make a cursory stop in Tahiti before going on to other paradise islands, like Bora Bora or Moorea, which are covered with luxury resorts.
As for Tahitians, most simply aren't interested in Gauguin, says Bellinda Hart, who heads the association that runs the museum. They're focused on their local traditions -- like wood sculpture and intricate geometric tattooing.
"Painting came with the whites," Hart said. "Most Tahitians know who Gauguin is, without seeking out information about his life. They know he's a French painter who was interested in Polynesia."
Tahiti is part of French Polynesia -- former colonies that are now French overseas territories. It is still governed in part by Paris, which is halfway around the world. Tahitians speak French, and most visitors eat croissants and drink cafe creme.
The island's capital, Papeete, can be stifling, with ugly modern buildings, hectic traffic and overpriced shops selling postcards, pareos and black pearls. One site worth visiting -- though very overpriced -- is the covered market, which sells straw bags, shell jewelry and carved wooden bowls.
To get a glimpse of island nature as Gauguin might have seen it, visitors should rent a car and see the more rural side of the island, which has black sand beaches with excellent surfing and mist-capped green hills in the distance. A trip all the way around the island, with stops, takes about a day. Most visitors will want to see the island's waterfalls, eat at stands selling tangy mangos and floury breadfruit, and stop at the Gauguin museum.
Here, the focus is on Gauguin's notorious life, not on his work.
The exhibit stretches from Gauguin's birth in 1848, tracing his childhood in Peru, his careers as a merchant marine and a successful stockbroker, and his decision to become a painter.
At 35, a father of five, Gauguin left his job, saying, "From now on, I will paint every day."
In 1891, Gauguin abandoned his wife and five children, setting off for Tahiti. In an interview before leaving, he told Echo de Paris: "I wish to live in peace and to avoid being influenced by our civilization. I only desire to create a simple art."
Thus began his life in Tahiti, where he took a series of teenage lovers, painted constantly, struggled with illness and tried to cut himself off from "civilization."
Gauguin returned to Paris once before his death, putting 41 of his brilliant Tahiti paintings up for sale. Only eight sold.
The painter died in 1903 back in French Polynesia, worn out by a life of hard living. His body was found at his home on the Marquesas Islands, where he had posted a sign on the door reading: "House of Pleasure."
There was no eulogy at his burial, nor were there flowers. A local civil servant, taking note of Gauguin's death, wrote that there was little hope of repaying his debts: "The few pictures left by the late painter ... have little prospect of finding purchasers."
where to stay
The Hotel Royal Tahitien, just outside Papeete, is set on the beach, with an excellent restaurant and a small pool. Rooms (prices start at just over $100 per night for a single) are comfortable and the staff is friendly. A trip from the hotel into the city center takes only about five minutes by bus or car. (Tel. 689-50-40-40)
The Sheraton Hotel Tahiti (Tel. 689-86-48-48) is located in its own lagoon just a few minutes outside Papeete. Doubles start at $150 per night. The hotel offers a full range of spa services, as well as activities including snorkeling, scuba diving, horseback riding and excursions to the Gauguin museum.
The Manihi Pearl Beach Resort is located on a coral reef in the Tuamotu archipelago (a short flight from Papeete) and has overwater bungalows, a restaurant and bar, a swimming pool and a dive center. The resort also offers diving, snorkeling, and boat excursions. Standard double beach bungalows start at just over $100 per night. Overwater bungalows (with private sundecks and glass floors) start at $165 per night.
Note that, because the weather is tropically warm year-round in Tahiti, hotel prices do not vary from month to month.
where to eat
La Petite Auberge on Pont de l'Est (Tel. 689-42-86-13) in Papeete serves traditional French and Polynesian cuisine, while Le Lion d'or on the Rue Afarerii (Tel. 689-42-66-50) offers a meat- and seafood-heavy menu in a pleasant beachside dining room.
For outdoor concerts and Tahitian dancing, as well as delicious couscous, visit Casablanca on PK9 Seaside in the Taina marina (Tel. 689-43-91-35).
how to get there
Air France and Aeroflot operate joint flights connecting Moscow and Papeete, via Paris and Los Angeles, with several flights per week. Call Air France's Moscow office at 937-3839/3837 for more information.
Contact English-speaking guide William Leeteg at 689-77-20-03.
For more information, visit Tahiti's official tourism web site at www.gototahiti.com
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.
Remind me later.
×
Remind me next month
Thank you! Your reminder is set.
We will send you one reminder email a month from now. For details on the personal data we collect and how it is used, please see our Privacy Policy.