Gauguin and Maori Art

Book excerpt: In August 1895 Paul Gauguin spent ten days in Auckland, en route to Tahiti for the second and final time. During his stay he visited the Auckland Art Gallery and the Auckland Museum, and recorded in a sketchbook details of some of the fine Maori carvings he observed. When Gauguin left Auckland he took with him a small but vital collection of new images, several of which were later to appear in major paintings. Gauguin and Maori Art is published to coincide with the centenary of Gauguin's visit to Auckland. For the first time the complete sketchbook is reproduced, alongside photographs of the Maori carvings Gauguin sketched and the paintings which demonstrate the significance of Gauguin's first-hand encounter with Maori art.