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Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin
One of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025
One of Five Books Best Nonfiction Books of 2024
Shortlisted for the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize
An original and revealing portrait of the misunderstood French Post-Impressionist artist.
Paul Gauguin’s legend as a transgressive genius arises as much from his biography as his aesthetically daring Polynesian paintings. Gauguin is chiefly known for his pictures that eschewed convention, to celebrate the beauty of an indigenous people and their culture. In this gorgeously illustrated, myth-busting work, Sue Prideaux reveals that while Gauguin was a complicated man, his scandalous reputation is largely undeserved.
Self-taught, Gauguin became a towering artist in his brief life, not just in painting but in ceramics and graphics. He fled the bustle of Paris for the beauty of Tahiti, where he lived simply and worked consistently to expose the tragic results of French Colonialism. Gauguin fought for the rights of Indigenous people, exposing French injustices and corruption in the local newspaper and acting as advocate for the Tahitian people in the French colonial courts. His unconventional career and bold, breathtaking art influenced not only Vincent van Gogh, but Matisse and Picasso.
Wild Thing upends much of what we thought we knew about Gauguin through new primary research, including the resurfaced manuscript of Gauguin’s most important writing, the untranslated memoir of Gauguin’s son, and a sample of Gauguin’s teeth that disproves the pernicious myth of his syphilis. In the first full biography of Paul Gauguin in thirty years, Sue Prideaux illuminates the extraordinary oeuvre of a visionary artist vital to the French avant-garde. The result is “a brilliantly readable and compassionate study of Gauguin—not just as a painter, sculptor, carver and potter, but as a human soul perpetually searching for what is always just out of reach” (Artemis Cooper, Spectator).
One of Five Books Best Nonfiction Books of 2024
Shortlisted for the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize
An original and revealing portrait of the misunderstood French Post-Impressionist artist.
Paul Gauguin’s legend as a transgressive genius arises as much from his biography as his aesthetically daring Polynesian paintings. Gauguin is chiefly known for his pictures that eschewed convention, to celebrate the beauty of an indigenous people and their culture. In this gorgeously illustrated, myth-busting work, Sue Prideaux reveals that while Gauguin was a complicated man, his scandalous reputation is largely undeserved.
Self-taught, Gauguin became a towering artist in his brief life, not just in painting but in ceramics and graphics. He fled the bustle of Paris for the beauty of Tahiti, where he lived simply and worked consistently to expose the tragic results of French Colonialism. Gauguin fought for the rights of Indigenous people, exposing French injustices and corruption in the local newspaper and acting as advocate for the Tahitian people in the French colonial courts. His unconventional career and bold, breathtaking art influenced not only Vincent van Gogh, but Matisse and Picasso.
Wild Thing upends much of what we thought we knew about Gauguin through new primary research, including the resurfaced manuscript of Gauguin’s most important writing, the untranslated memoir of Gauguin’s son, and a sample of Gauguin’s teeth that disproves the pernicious myth of his syphilis. In the first full biography of Paul Gauguin in thirty years, Sue Prideaux illuminates the extraordinary oeuvre of a visionary artist vital to the French avant-garde. The result is “a brilliantly readable and compassionate study of Gauguin—not just as a painter, sculptor, carver and potter, but as a human soul perpetually searching for what is always just out of reach” (Artemis Cooper, Spectator).
416 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2024
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7274 people want to read
About the author
Sue Prideaux
10 books140 followersSue Prideaux is an Anglo-Norwegian novelist and biographer. She has strong links to Norway and her godmother was painted by Edvard Munch, whose biography she later wrote under the title Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream. Prior to taking up writing she trained as an art historian in Florence, Paris, and London.
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October 7, 2025
Paul Gauguin began as a child in exile, carried on a ship from France to Peru, where his father died before they reached port. The boy grew up in Lima among opulent relatives, marble halls, and slaves who emptied his silver chamber pot. His mother collected fragments of pre-Columbian art, clay gods and fox-warriors, which seeped into his imagination as permanent symbols.
Then the dream ended. He was taken back to France, to the flat greyness of Orléans, where the rain fell endlessly, and where he called himself, with fury, “a savage from Peru.”
In Paris he conformed. He wore proper suits, married a Dane, entered the stock exchange, fathered five children, hung Impressionist paintings on his walls. For a time he thrived, prosperous and settled, until one day the call of another life broke through. He began to paint with all the fervor of an amateur who believes he has discovered truth. His wife wanted respectability, he wanted destiny; the rupture was inevitable.
From then his life was a sequence of flights. He painted peasants in Brittany as if they were saints. He sailed to Panama, Martinique, and back again, always restless, always disappointed. With Van Gogh he attempted a brotherhood of art in Arles, a brief collision of two tormented men, ending in blood and madness.
Tahiti became his idée fixe, the place where he would find an untouched Eden. He arrived and discovered a colony spoiled by missionaries and French soldiers. Still he imposed his dream upon it. He took young girls as wives, filled his canvases with purple seas and ochre skies, brown-skinned Madonnas carrying brown-skinned children. Paris recoiled, Paris applauded. He was at once a scandal and a prophet.
The years grew harsher. He quarreled with colonial administrators, published satirical attacks, defended Polynesians in their courts. His body weakened, his money vanished, his illusions hardened into bitterness. In the Marquesas he built his bamboo hut, gave it the mocking name Maison du Jouir, and filled it with carvings of gods that looked both terrifying and absurd.
There he wrote his final testament, railing against colonial greed, meditating on Christ, mocking the church, recalling his past with a mixture of arrogance and despair.
In 1903 he died on Hiva Oa, sick, pursued by lawsuits, convinced of his solitude. The villagers buried him on a hillside. The paintings that had seemed blasphemous in Paris began to influence a generation. Picasso, Matisse, the Fauves, the German Expressionists, all carried something of his rebellion into their own work. He had abandoned his family, he had pursued a mirage, yet he had altered the grammar of art.
Reading this, one feels the echo of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, except here the painter himself plays both Marlow and Kurtz, prophet and exile, with every brushstroke turning into a sentence against the world.
"...Gauguin’s social life appeared to be burgeoning. He writes about a countess, whom he never names, being much smitten with him and by the large wood panel he had carved in the absence of money for paints and canvas. Be Amorous and You Will Be Happy (1889) is a seduction-verging-on-rape fantasy in which Gauguin depicts himself as a monster grasping the hand of a resisting woman. The words ‘be amorous and you will be happy’ issue from the Gauguin monster’s mouth. The remaining space is taken up with carvings of the Moche dog fox symbol of perversity and other figures playingtheir part in this updated narrative of the Fall of Eve in which Gauguin has cast himself as tempter, Satan and serpent.
The smitten countess returned to Paris promising to show the carving to Maurice Rouvier, the Minister of Finance who, she said, was bound to buy it. Gauguin wrapped it carefully to arrive in Paris in good condition. The venture ended in nothing but postal expense for Gauguin.
Things looked up again in the month of May, when he met Charles Charlopin, a charming man of many parts: art teacher, inventor, ship’s doctor, art collector. Charlopin was about to come into a great deal of money through his latest invention, a steam engine far superior to any already manufactured. As soon as the patent came through, he would buy thirty-eight of Gauguin’s paintings for the sum of 5,000 francs. The money should be available in a month or so.
Gauguin was temporarily distracted from this and everything else by a letter from Vincent announcing yet another plan to come and paint with him, this time proposing to join him and de Haan in Le Pouldu. Panicked, Gauguin instructed Marie Poupée to write saying there was no room at the buvette. Gauguin himself wrote that it would be a very bad idea, Vincent being in fragile health and there being neither doctor nor hospital in Le Pouldu. Besides, they would not be there long. De Haan was planning to go back to Holland and he was makingplans, he said, to leave for Madagascar.
Vincent wrote to Theo saying he would much prefer to see Gauguin leave for Tonkin than Madagascar but if he persisted in going there ‘I’d be able to follow him there. For one should go there in twos or threes.’ Vincent would never get to Madagascar or Brittany or anywhere else. A little over a month after writing that letter, he walked into a field carrying a gun..."
Then the dream ended. He was taken back to France, to the flat greyness of Orléans, where the rain fell endlessly, and where he called himself, with fury, “a savage from Peru.”
In Paris he conformed. He wore proper suits, married a Dane, entered the stock exchange, fathered five children, hung Impressionist paintings on his walls. For a time he thrived, prosperous and settled, until one day the call of another life broke through. He began to paint with all the fervor of an amateur who believes he has discovered truth. His wife wanted respectability, he wanted destiny; the rupture was inevitable.
From then his life was a sequence of flights. He painted peasants in Brittany as if they were saints. He sailed to Panama, Martinique, and back again, always restless, always disappointed. With Van Gogh he attempted a brotherhood of art in Arles, a brief collision of two tormented men, ending in blood and madness.
Tahiti became his idée fixe, the place where he would find an untouched Eden. He arrived and discovered a colony spoiled by missionaries and French soldiers. Still he imposed his dream upon it. He took young girls as wives, filled his canvases with purple seas and ochre skies, brown-skinned Madonnas carrying brown-skinned children. Paris recoiled, Paris applauded. He was at once a scandal and a prophet.
The years grew harsher. He quarreled with colonial administrators, published satirical attacks, defended Polynesians in their courts. His body weakened, his money vanished, his illusions hardened into bitterness. In the Marquesas he built his bamboo hut, gave it the mocking name Maison du Jouir, and filled it with carvings of gods that looked both terrifying and absurd.
There he wrote his final testament, railing against colonial greed, meditating on Christ, mocking the church, recalling his past with a mixture of arrogance and despair.
In 1903 he died on Hiva Oa, sick, pursued by lawsuits, convinced of his solitude. The villagers buried him on a hillside. The paintings that had seemed blasphemous in Paris began to influence a generation. Picasso, Matisse, the Fauves, the German Expressionists, all carried something of his rebellion into their own work. He had abandoned his family, he had pursued a mirage, yet he had altered the grammar of art.
Reading this, one feels the echo of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, except here the painter himself plays both Marlow and Kurtz, prophet and exile, with every brushstroke turning into a sentence against the world.
"...Gauguin’s social life appeared to be burgeoning. He writes about a countess, whom he never names, being much smitten with him and by the large wood panel he had carved in the absence of money for paints and canvas. Be Amorous and You Will Be Happy (1889) is a seduction-verging-on-rape fantasy in which Gauguin depicts himself as a monster grasping the hand of a resisting woman. The words ‘be amorous and you will be happy’ issue from the Gauguin monster’s mouth. The remaining space is taken up with carvings of the Moche dog fox symbol of perversity and other figures playingtheir part in this updated narrative of the Fall of Eve in which Gauguin has cast himself as tempter, Satan and serpent.
The smitten countess returned to Paris promising to show the carving to Maurice Rouvier, the Minister of Finance who, she said, was bound to buy it. Gauguin wrapped it carefully to arrive in Paris in good condition. The venture ended in nothing but postal expense for Gauguin.
Things looked up again in the month of May, when he met Charles Charlopin, a charming man of many parts: art teacher, inventor, ship’s doctor, art collector. Charlopin was about to come into a great deal of money through his latest invention, a steam engine far superior to any already manufactured. As soon as the patent came through, he would buy thirty-eight of Gauguin’s paintings for the sum of 5,000 francs. The money should be available in a month or so.
Gauguin was temporarily distracted from this and everything else by a letter from Vincent announcing yet another plan to come and paint with him, this time proposing to join him and de Haan in Le Pouldu. Panicked, Gauguin instructed Marie Poupée to write saying there was no room at the buvette. Gauguin himself wrote that it would be a very bad idea, Vincent being in fragile health and there being neither doctor nor hospital in Le Pouldu. Besides, they would not be there long. De Haan was planning to go back to Holland and he was makingplans, he said, to leave for Madagascar.
Vincent wrote to Theo saying he would much prefer to see Gauguin leave for Tonkin than Madagascar but if he persisted in going there ‘I’d be able to follow him there. For one should go there in twos or threes.’ Vincent would never get to Madagascar or Brittany or anywhere else. A little over a month after writing that letter, he walked into a field carrying a gun..."
August 6, 2025
Five massive stars for this lifetime and experience of Paul Gaugin, from Peru to Paris, from Brittany to Panama and back to Paris, Denmark, and Tahiti and the Marquesas. Mr Gaugin was ultimately a wandering soul in search of the essence of life, away from the restrictions and arbitrary rules of what he called civilized society. Each location on the earth that he lived gave force and form to his work and the author has presented this so thoroughly that the reader can easily see where he was shaped and constructed, who he was.
“Precision often destroys the dream, takes all the life out of a fable… It is better to paint from memory, for thus your work will be your own; your sensation, your intelligence, your soul… The painter uses the model to make a legend, moving from the possible to the impossible… Literal pictures are the business of the sign painter… In front of the easel, the painter is a slave neither of the past nor of the present; neither of nature nor of his neighbor. Him, him again, always him.” ~ Paul Gaugin
“Precision often destroys the dream, takes all the life out of a fable… It is better to paint from memory, for thus your work will be your own; your sensation, your intelligence, your soul… The painter uses the model to make a legend, moving from the possible to the impossible… Literal pictures are the business of the sign painter… In front of the easel, the painter is a slave neither of the past nor of the present; neither of nature nor of his neighbor. Him, him again, always him.” ~ Paul Gaugin
February 11, 2025
I might have misjudged Gauguin, just as I misunderstood Van Gogh. This is a well researched, detailed and balanced biography. My only complaint is that the author gets a bit carried away at times with irrelevant background stories, in an otherwise fascinating read.
Genius or pretender? Like Van Gogh, he never achieved great recognition as an artist during his lifetime. He did manage to sell some works though, but fetching prices well below Manet's, for example. He did rub shoulders with the Manet group of impressionists although his interactions were mostly with the post-impressionists. In this second tier group, he had enough of a reputation to attract disciples like Laval, De Haan, Sérusier and Bernard. Even with these, he had a love-hate relationship with each of them.
He had a successful career as a broker and with a wife and four, later five children, life was sweet. It was during this time of prosperity that he started to take an interest in art. Then came the Paris Bourse crash of 1882 and his perfect world fell apart. His financial losses started the break up of his marriage as they argued over expenses. But his spendthrift ways and their extravagant lifestyles had already laid cracks in the foundation.
Crusader or sex fiend? Gauguin supported women's rights. He was also an advocate for the rights of the polynesians who suffered under the colonialists, even going to jail because of it. Yet his actions were contradictory. His is most infamous for having sexual relations with teenage polynesian girls. In mitigation, there were also other teens that he could have bedded but resisted the temptation. Moreover, what he did was considered "normal" in those times and in that culture. Amongst them, Tehamana and Pahura also served as muses for his art. Also the slightly older Annah the Javanese. He received his retribution as they ultimately betrayed him. I feel that his biggest fault was abandoning his wife and children to pursue his painting career. He was more willing to sacrifice himself for his art, than for his family. He loved his children, but failed to provide for them. Despite the separation, there was no doubt that he continued to feel a connection with his Danish wife, Mette Sophie Gad. They never divorced. Mette was not a helpless, dependent wife either. She managed five children and kept her family afloat. Although not earning much, she was in demand as a French tutor in Denmark.
Gauguin was also blessed with other resilient, resourceful women in his life. Maternal grandmother Flora Tristan was a national heroine for women's and worker's rights (maybe that's where his instinct came from). After the untimely death of his father on route to Peru, his mother Aline also had to support the family on her own, albeit with the help of some dubious uncles. She did finally find stability with the wealthy Arosa, who would nuture the uncouth, rambunctious teenage Gauguin, also supporting his art career when he was older.
School was a difficult time for Gauguin, having to change countries and getting bullied. He was not interested in learning but he does credit his school in his development.
"I learned to distrust everything that was opposed to my instinct, my heart and my reason."
His time as a young sailor in the merchant then military navy would be transformational for him, especially physically. It also exposed him to far flung reaches of the world.
Bohemian or weirdo? He lead a bohemian lifestyle, unemployed, impecunious, itinerant, and surviving on goodwill and half-baked schemes (although not as harebrained as Van Gogh). He must have been a sight to behold, with his clogs and loincloth. I am a savage from Peru.
I learned that he was not just talented in painting, he was skilled in sculpture, ceramics, pottery, music and writing. In fact, it was from his writings that we have a more intimate view of the man.
Gauguin was a leader in the Symbolism movement. He certainly put a lot of meaning into each artwork. He was also heavily influenced by primitive art.
He painted many self portraits thoughout his career, each a reflection of his psyche at that time. He transitions from a quiet, impressionistic portrait, all the way to his final portrait, as an impoverished, isolated, broken man.
He had a great sense of humour and it was also reflected in his artwork. His irreverance for artistic norms, ribald approach and veiled jokes about his contemporaries were embedded in his artworks. Amongst his pottery works was a beheaded portrait pot of Schuffnecker's harpy wife.
There were many influences which shaped Gauguin's eventual style. As he spent his childhood years in Peru, the Moche culture and Peruvian mythology would be deeply ingrained into his thoughts. Manet's controversial Olympia 1863, exposing the sexual hypocrisy of the times, would be of great significance to Gauguin throughout his career. He also interacted with a number of artists. He found a mentor in poor, struggling, but earnest and fatherly Pissarro, although his real idol was Cézanne. Although Gauguin was good in trading, he was relatively hapless when it came to art exhibitions. Degas was the one who consistently supported him at his exhibitions. A pivotal moment in his career, was meeting the Van Gogh brothers in 1887. Theo would be his agent for a while. His most interesting and volatile relationship was with Vincent. Their time in the Yellow House is a story in itself.
From Paris to Brittany, Pont-Aven, Le Pouldu, to Tahiti and the Marquesas, his own unique style would develop.
Gauguin was self taught. He was interested in lines, shapes and colours.
He had played boldly with space, experimented with multiple viewpoints, flattened or lengthened perspective, worked on complex composition and managed to place both human figures and animals comfortably in their picture space.
He was interested in music. "Music was art as pure spirit, untethered from physicality"
Even in how different art forms work in synergy. Gesamtkunstwerk.
"Music remained subordinate to painting, because of its sequential nature."
Or how the brain handles diffferent sensory experiences. Synaesthsia, an interconnection of sensual experience.
"Literature he consigned to the bottom of the pile... words as limiting concepts... Text puts the reader in the position of a slave to thr author's thoughts."
"Sensation is freedom... what are the rules of the senses?"
Gauguin also suffered greatly. He had an unfortunate series of deceptions and letdowns. He contracted malaria, dysentry and hepatitis on his disastrous expedition to Panama with Laval. The worst event was his being assaulted in Pont Aven. Physically he started to decline from then.
Admirable or reprehensible? I am not sure now. But one thing is certain, I will never see Gauguin's artworks in the same light again.
Gauguin had always been an essentially sociable introvert. However much of an outsider he was, his understanding of humanity had never come from isolation, never from locking himself away, but from being among people while retaining the position of observer.
You wish to teach me what is within myself: learn first what is withín you. You have solved the problem, I could not solve it for you. It is the task of all of us to solve it. Toil without end; otherwise, what would life be? We are what we have been since always; and we are what we shall always be, a ship tossed about by every wind. Shrewd, far-sighted sailors avoid dangers to which others succumb, partly, however, thanks to an indefinable something that permits one to live under the same circumstances in which another, acting in the same manner, would die. Some use their wills, the rest resign themselves without a struggle. I believe life has no meaning unless one lives it with a will, at least to the limit of one's will. Virtue, good, evil, are nothing but words unless one takes them apart in order to build something with them; they do not gain their true meaning until one knows how to apply them. To surrender oneself to the hands of one's creator is to cancel oneself out and to die. Paul Gauguin, Avant et après, Atuona, 1903
Genius or pretender? Like Van Gogh, he never achieved great recognition as an artist during his lifetime. He did manage to sell some works though, but fetching prices well below Manet's, for example. He did rub shoulders with the Manet group of impressionists although his interactions were mostly with the post-impressionists. In this second tier group, he had enough of a reputation to attract disciples like Laval, De Haan, Sérusier and Bernard. Even with these, he had a love-hate relationship with each of them.
He had a successful career as a broker and with a wife and four, later five children, life was sweet. It was during this time of prosperity that he started to take an interest in art. Then came the Paris Bourse crash of 1882 and his perfect world fell apart. His financial losses started the break up of his marriage as they argued over expenses. But his spendthrift ways and their extravagant lifestyles had already laid cracks in the foundation.
Crusader or sex fiend? Gauguin supported women's rights. He was also an advocate for the rights of the polynesians who suffered under the colonialists, even going to jail because of it. Yet his actions were contradictory. His is most infamous for having sexual relations with teenage polynesian girls. In mitigation, there were also other teens that he could have bedded but resisted the temptation. Moreover, what he did was considered "normal" in those times and in that culture. Amongst them, Tehamana and Pahura also served as muses for his art. Also the slightly older Annah the Javanese. He received his retribution as they ultimately betrayed him. I feel that his biggest fault was abandoning his wife and children to pursue his painting career. He was more willing to sacrifice himself for his art, than for his family. He loved his children, but failed to provide for them. Despite the separation, there was no doubt that he continued to feel a connection with his Danish wife, Mette Sophie Gad. They never divorced. Mette was not a helpless, dependent wife either. She managed five children and kept her family afloat. Although not earning much, she was in demand as a French tutor in Denmark.
Gauguin was also blessed with other resilient, resourceful women in his life. Maternal grandmother Flora Tristan was a national heroine for women's and worker's rights (maybe that's where his instinct came from). After the untimely death of his father on route to Peru, his mother Aline also had to support the family on her own, albeit with the help of some dubious uncles. She did finally find stability with the wealthy Arosa, who would nuture the uncouth, rambunctious teenage Gauguin, also supporting his art career when he was older.
School was a difficult time for Gauguin, having to change countries and getting bullied. He was not interested in learning but he does credit his school in his development.
"I learned to distrust everything that was opposed to my instinct, my heart and my reason."
His time as a young sailor in the merchant then military navy would be transformational for him, especially physically. It also exposed him to far flung reaches of the world.
Bohemian or weirdo? He lead a bohemian lifestyle, unemployed, impecunious, itinerant, and surviving on goodwill and half-baked schemes (although not as harebrained as Van Gogh). He must have been a sight to behold, with his clogs and loincloth. I am a savage from Peru.
I learned that he was not just talented in painting, he was skilled in sculpture, ceramics, pottery, music and writing. In fact, it was from his writings that we have a more intimate view of the man.
Gauguin was a leader in the Symbolism movement. He certainly put a lot of meaning into each artwork. He was also heavily influenced by primitive art.
He painted many self portraits thoughout his career, each a reflection of his psyche at that time. He transitions from a quiet, impressionistic portrait, all the way to his final portrait, as an impoverished, isolated, broken man.
He had a great sense of humour and it was also reflected in his artwork. His irreverance for artistic norms, ribald approach and veiled jokes about his contemporaries were embedded in his artworks. Amongst his pottery works was a beheaded portrait pot of Schuffnecker's harpy wife.
There were many influences which shaped Gauguin's eventual style. As he spent his childhood years in Peru, the Moche culture and Peruvian mythology would be deeply ingrained into his thoughts. Manet's controversial Olympia 1863, exposing the sexual hypocrisy of the times, would be of great significance to Gauguin throughout his career. He also interacted with a number of artists. He found a mentor in poor, struggling, but earnest and fatherly Pissarro, although his real idol was Cézanne. Although Gauguin was good in trading, he was relatively hapless when it came to art exhibitions. Degas was the one who consistently supported him at his exhibitions. A pivotal moment in his career, was meeting the Van Gogh brothers in 1887. Theo would be his agent for a while. His most interesting and volatile relationship was with Vincent. Their time in the Yellow House is a story in itself.
From Paris to Brittany, Pont-Aven, Le Pouldu, to Tahiti and the Marquesas, his own unique style would develop.
Gauguin was self taught. He was interested in lines, shapes and colours.
He had played boldly with space, experimented with multiple viewpoints, flattened or lengthened perspective, worked on complex composition and managed to place both human figures and animals comfortably in their picture space.
He was interested in music. "Music was art as pure spirit, untethered from physicality"
Even in how different art forms work in synergy. Gesamtkunstwerk.
"Music remained subordinate to painting, because of its sequential nature."
Or how the brain handles diffferent sensory experiences. Synaesthsia, an interconnection of sensual experience.
"Literature he consigned to the bottom of the pile... words as limiting concepts... Text puts the reader in the position of a slave to thr author's thoughts."
"Sensation is freedom... what are the rules of the senses?"
Gauguin also suffered greatly. He had an unfortunate series of deceptions and letdowns. He contracted malaria, dysentry and hepatitis on his disastrous expedition to Panama with Laval. The worst event was his being assaulted in Pont Aven. Physically he started to decline from then.
Admirable or reprehensible? I am not sure now. But one thing is certain, I will never see Gauguin's artworks in the same light again.
Gauguin had always been an essentially sociable introvert. However much of an outsider he was, his understanding of humanity had never come from isolation, never from locking himself away, but from being among people while retaining the position of observer.
You wish to teach me what is within myself: learn first what is withín you. You have solved the problem, I could not solve it for you. It is the task of all of us to solve it. Toil without end; otherwise, what would life be? We are what we have been since always; and we are what we shall always be, a ship tossed about by every wind. Shrewd, far-sighted sailors avoid dangers to which others succumb, partly, however, thanks to an indefinable something that permits one to live under the same circumstances in which another, acting in the same manner, would die. Some use their wills, the rest resign themselves without a struggle. I believe life has no meaning unless one lives it with a will, at least to the limit of one's will. Virtue, good, evil, are nothing but words unless one takes them apart in order to build something with them; they do not gain their true meaning until one knows how to apply them. To surrender oneself to the hands of one's creator is to cancel oneself out and to die. Paul Gauguin, Avant et après, Atuona, 1903
November 21, 2025
Reading this book was my penance for sleeping through art history lectures in college. Initially I read an ebook on loan from my library. From chapter 8 onward I listened to an audiobook narrated by Elizabeth Wiley.
Paul Gauguin was quite the rascal, but I couldn't help but like him, and I've become quite a fan of his paintings. A thorough portrait of Gauguin is given so there's little chance you will get an idealized picture of the man. Neither devil nor saint.
Gauguin was a member of the post-impressionist artistic movement lead by Paul Céanne. (Sadly, I used to mock this sort of artistic classification by calling myself a Post Post-Modern Modernist. I fear I still fit in that groove.)
Paul Gauguin was born on June 7th in 1848. (That was almost exactly 100 years before I was born, and is 177 years before 2025.) It is believed that Gauguin didn't begin painting until 1873 when he was 25. Initially it was just a hobby which he pursued with a friend.
Early on Gauguin mainly painted pictures of flowers, children, and his wife. (See the following quote from this book. His wife's name was Mette-Sophie Gad.)
Quote
Flowers, children, Mette; already he had found a main theme of his painting, the impenetrable discontinuities of consciousness. p. xx [Before chapter 5]
Unquote
By the age of 25 Gauguin had already had a full life. For example, he sailed with his parents to Peru. (Unfortunately his father died before they arrived in Peru.) He lived in Peru for several years, then sailed back to France with his mother. He lived in France with for several years and attended attended a private school. He wasn't a great student. He then went to sea with the merchant marines; then joined the navy, when he came of age. After that he had several jobs before finally becoming a successful stockbroker. He was known by his friends as someone who could always find employment, who always had money, and who never backed down from a fight.
Gauguin was working as a banker when he first started painting. He painted with a colleague named Schuffenecker. Gauguin was able to purchase paintings by well known artists relatively cheaply. His painting collection contained works by Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, Boudin, Jongkind, Degas, Sisley, Cassatt, John L. Brown, and Daumier. [see p. 152 of ebook].
Quote
[Gauguin] feared and revered Céanne, calling him 'the Magician'. Céanne did not return the regard. He distrusted Gauguin, whom he accused of wanting to copy him. Gauguin's habit of buying paintings to analyze and learn from them, Céanne had a point. (p. Xxx of ebook)
Unquote
Of course, among the post-impressionist painters, one could ask: Who wasn't influenced by Céanne? And also ask: Who would Céanne admit influenced him?
Even an art ignorant person such as myself can recognize similarities between Paul Gauguin's and Paul Céanne's paintings. Note: If I continue pursuing art history, perhaps Céanne is the next artist I should research.
According to Wikipedia, "[Céanne] altered conventional approaches to perspective and broke established rules of academic art by emphasizing the underlying structure of objects in a composition and the formal qualities of art." It seems to me, uneducated and art-ignorant as I am, that the same thing could be said (and has been said) about Paul Gauguin.
Quote
[While in Paris] Gauguin kept working hard at [his banking job] during the day, and towards next year's [Impressionist] exhibition in the evening. (p. 157 in ebook)
Unquote
When Gauguin was in Paris he was part of a group of painters that gave him advice and encouragement. When he was forced to leave Paris for financial reasons, he was alone, except for his family, and he struggled to find his way as an artist and painter.
Quote
[Gauguin] could not yet achieve the textual luminosities of silk, roses, and pearls... (p. 175 of ebook)
Unquote
No longer a banker with steady income, Gauguin and his wife struggled financially, and Gauguin discovered his wife had borrowed huge sums of money from friends. It was then decided that his wife Mette and three of the children would move to Denmark and live with Mette's mother. Gauguin would remain in Rouen, France with the two youngest boys and the nursemaid. Apparently Justine, the nursemaid, also served as a model in at least one of Gauguin's paintings.
Quote
It was a summer of spiritual isolation and artistic failure. (p. 176 of ebook)
Unquote
Gauguin spent the summer of 1884 studying Paul Céanne's work, and he finally finds his own path while painting his five year old son. He called the painting Clovis Asleep. (See p. 183 of the ebook.)
Mette returned briefly at the end of the summer in 1884, and she and Paul decided to move the whole family to Denmark and live with Mette's mother. (See p. 185 of the ebook) Unfortunately things didn't go well for Gauguin in Denmark. To discover the exciting conclusion to this story I recommend you read Wild Thing by Sue Prideaux.
Quote
[Gauguin had] real success with his first important nude, Woman Sewing (1880). The model was probably Justine, the children's nursemaid.
... ... ...
The picture is non-idealised and non-erotic.
p. 158 in ebook
Unquote
Note: The Woman Sewing painting is currently owned by a collector in Copenhagen.
Quote
Art was his mistress. Mette was his wife. He was content. (p. 161 in ebook)
Unquote
Quote
... even Gauguin's most devoted followers [Gauguin's gang] remained a little scared of him. (p. 224/5 in ebook)
Unquote
Quote
[Using several different art forms Gauguin] explore[d] the paradoxical relationship between the Finite and the Infinite. (p. 236 in ebook)
Unquote
Quote
He gave out racist rants [in the satires Gauguin wrote for the local newspaper] worthy of Donald Trump. (See chapter 17)
Unquote
My conclusion: I don't have a preferred painter, but if I ever do, I suspect that painter's style and technique could be traced back to Gauguin.
Paul Gauguin was quite the rascal, but I couldn't help but like him, and I've become quite a fan of his paintings. A thorough portrait of Gauguin is given so there's little chance you will get an idealized picture of the man. Neither devil nor saint.
Gauguin was a member of the post-impressionist artistic movement lead by Paul Céanne. (Sadly, I used to mock this sort of artistic classification by calling myself a Post Post-Modern Modernist. I fear I still fit in that groove.)
Paul Gauguin was born on June 7th in 1848. (That was almost exactly 100 years before I was born, and is 177 years before 2025.) It is believed that Gauguin didn't begin painting until 1873 when he was 25. Initially it was just a hobby which he pursued with a friend.
Early on Gauguin mainly painted pictures of flowers, children, and his wife. (See the following quote from this book. His wife's name was Mette-Sophie Gad.)
Quote
Flowers, children, Mette; already he had found a main theme of his painting, the impenetrable discontinuities of consciousness. p. xx [Before chapter 5]
Unquote
By the age of 25 Gauguin had already had a full life. For example, he sailed with his parents to Peru. (Unfortunately his father died before they arrived in Peru.) He lived in Peru for several years, then sailed back to France with his mother. He lived in France with for several years and attended attended a private school. He wasn't a great student. He then went to sea with the merchant marines; then joined the navy, when he came of age. After that he had several jobs before finally becoming a successful stockbroker. He was known by his friends as someone who could always find employment, who always had money, and who never backed down from a fight.
Gauguin was working as a banker when he first started painting. He painted with a colleague named Schuffenecker. Gauguin was able to purchase paintings by well known artists relatively cheaply. His painting collection contained works by Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, Boudin, Jongkind, Degas, Sisley, Cassatt, John L. Brown, and Daumier. [see p. 152 of ebook].
Quote
[Gauguin] feared and revered Céanne, calling him 'the Magician'. Céanne did not return the regard. He distrusted Gauguin, whom he accused of wanting to copy him. Gauguin's habit of buying paintings to analyze and learn from them, Céanne had a point. (p. Xxx of ebook)
Unquote
Of course, among the post-impressionist painters, one could ask: Who wasn't influenced by Céanne? And also ask: Who would Céanne admit influenced him?
Even an art ignorant person such as myself can recognize similarities between Paul Gauguin's and Paul Céanne's paintings. Note: If I continue pursuing art history, perhaps Céanne is the next artist I should research.
According to Wikipedia, "[Céanne] altered conventional approaches to perspective and broke established rules of academic art by emphasizing the underlying structure of objects in a composition and the formal qualities of art." It seems to me, uneducated and art-ignorant as I am, that the same thing could be said (and has been said) about Paul Gauguin.
Quote
[While in Paris] Gauguin kept working hard at [his banking job] during the day, and towards next year's [Impressionist] exhibition in the evening. (p. 157 in ebook)
Unquote
When Gauguin was in Paris he was part of a group of painters that gave him advice and encouragement. When he was forced to leave Paris for financial reasons, he was alone, except for his family, and he struggled to find his way as an artist and painter.
Quote
[Gauguin] could not yet achieve the textual luminosities of silk, roses, and pearls... (p. 175 of ebook)
Unquote
No longer a banker with steady income, Gauguin and his wife struggled financially, and Gauguin discovered his wife had borrowed huge sums of money from friends. It was then decided that his wife Mette and three of the children would move to Denmark and live with Mette's mother. Gauguin would remain in Rouen, France with the two youngest boys and the nursemaid. Apparently Justine, the nursemaid, also served as a model in at least one of Gauguin's paintings.
Quote
It was a summer of spiritual isolation and artistic failure. (p. 176 of ebook)
Unquote
Gauguin spent the summer of 1884 studying Paul Céanne's work, and he finally finds his own path while painting his five year old son. He called the painting Clovis Asleep. (See p. 183 of the ebook.)
Mette returned briefly at the end of the summer in 1884, and she and Paul decided to move the whole family to Denmark and live with Mette's mother. (See p. 185 of the ebook) Unfortunately things didn't go well for Gauguin in Denmark. To discover the exciting conclusion to this story I recommend you read Wild Thing by Sue Prideaux.
Quote
[Gauguin had] real success with his first important nude, Woman Sewing (1880). The model was probably Justine, the children's nursemaid.
... ... ...
The picture is non-idealised and non-erotic.
p. 158 in ebook
Unquote
Note: The Woman Sewing painting is currently owned by a collector in Copenhagen.
Quote
Art was his mistress. Mette was his wife. He was content. (p. 161 in ebook)
Unquote
Quote
... even Gauguin's most devoted followers [Gauguin's gang] remained a little scared of him. (p. 224/5 in ebook)
Unquote
Quote
[Using several different art forms Gauguin] explore[d] the paradoxical relationship between the Finite and the Infinite. (p. 236 in ebook)
Unquote
Quote
He gave out racist rants [in the satires Gauguin wrote for the local newspaper] worthy of Donald Trump. (See chapter 17)
Unquote
My conclusion: I don't have a preferred painter, but if I ever do, I suspect that painter's style and technique could be traced back to Gauguin.
January 14, 2025
This is an excellent biography of one of the most singular, fascinating artists of the fin de siecle, a man whose art is often lazily categorized as Impressionist when his work is anything but, despite dabbling in that style while he was still 'finding his feet'.
His life was one of restless exploration, both geographically, stylistically and philosophically, and Sue Prideaux narrates his story in a really engaging way. There are also fascinating portrayals of his compatriots and rivals, including Camille Pissarro and the ever supportive Edgar Degas.
The section on his time in Arles with the tragic Vincent Van Gogh, whose portrayal is quite disturbing, challenges the perceptions that Gauguin was less than supportive to his fellow artist and later chapters covering his time in French Polynesia are eye-opening, particularly with the depiction of the shame and disgust he felt at how French colonial authorities treated the indigenous people.
The book itself is beautifully produced with an excellent range of full colour reproductions of key works and Prideaux's analysis of each, particularly those from the South Seas, is really interesting.
A lovely book which I would highly recommend.
His life was one of restless exploration, both geographically, stylistically and philosophically, and Sue Prideaux narrates his story in a really engaging way. There are also fascinating portrayals of his compatriots and rivals, including Camille Pissarro and the ever supportive Edgar Degas.
The section on his time in Arles with the tragic Vincent Van Gogh, whose portrayal is quite disturbing, challenges the perceptions that Gauguin was less than supportive to his fellow artist and later chapters covering his time in French Polynesia are eye-opening, particularly with the depiction of the shame and disgust he felt at how French colonial authorities treated the indigenous people.
The book itself is beautifully produced with an excellent range of full colour reproductions of key works and Prideaux's analysis of each, particularly those from the South Seas, is really interesting.
A lovely book which I would highly recommend.
Read
August 3, 2025I understand from reviews that at least some readers and professional reviewers are relieved Prideaux exonerated Gauguin's egregious sexual relationships with girls and women because the times were different. How nice. [The French have long struggled to recognize sexual exploitation of female children, not to mention adults, but there has never been a time when misogyny and outright cruelty were not objectionable to those who suffered. It's one thing to acknowledge that bigotry such as antisemitism and racism and sexism were tolerated and even encouraged by those in power; it's quite another to insist that these attitudes and transgressions went unnoticed, that such bigotry was somehow rendered benign because a few declared it was.]
In Gauguin's day, the age of consent in France was 13, which does not make the relationships he had moral by the standards of that day or this. (It's still only 14 years in France, and force or coercion must be proven to prosecute for raping a 15 year old.) Gauguin's Tahitian "wife" bore him children. This makes some people a "little uncomfortable"? Tehura was 13 and Gauguin was already past 44 when he took her and began fathering her children. He repeatedly abandoned girls such as Tehura and women and the many children he fathered—when would this be considered acceptable behavior? As Gauguin approached the age of 50, he was back in Paris with a teenaged girl on his arm.
For the record, paedophilia has nothing to do with the age of consent; it is sexual feelings of adults directed towards children. Overt sexual acts directed toward children. A person of 13 is a child. I hope we can all agree that adults exploiting children is wrong.
When Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13 year old cousin, she too, was over the age of consent. Americans did not approve, and he had to cancel a performance tour. He did nothing illegal, but we were rightly troubled. Thirteen is still the age of consent in many US states. Very young girl children are allowed to marry with parental consent. Why?
Plenty of terrible things have been legal in the past and some remain legal. That doesn't make them right or excusable. It doesn't mean that thoughtful people fail to recognize they are wrong. It means that insensitive and cruel people do not mind exploiting others. Slavery comes to mind. Beating a child bloody. Child marriage.
Further, there is still argument about whether he passed syphilis around to many women—Europeans did. That he was not treated with mercury for the disease is no proof either way. There was no safe cure at the time, and mercury was know to cause insanity. Gauguin's treatment of Van Gogh was at best unkind, at worst deplorable, though in Gauguin's version of the story he makes of himself a hero.
I love Gauguin's paintings, have loved them all my life, but he was a vile, selfish human being. And his paintings are beautiful. Both can be true.
In Gauguin's day, the age of consent in France was 13, which does not make the relationships he had moral by the standards of that day or this. (It's still only 14 years in France, and force or coercion must be proven to prosecute for raping a 15 year old.) Gauguin's Tahitian "wife" bore him children. This makes some people a "little uncomfortable"? Tehura was 13 and Gauguin was already past 44 when he took her and began fathering her children. He repeatedly abandoned girls such as Tehura and women and the many children he fathered—when would this be considered acceptable behavior? As Gauguin approached the age of 50, he was back in Paris with a teenaged girl on his arm.
For the record, paedophilia has nothing to do with the age of consent; it is sexual feelings of adults directed towards children. Overt sexual acts directed toward children. A person of 13 is a child. I hope we can all agree that adults exploiting children is wrong.
When Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13 year old cousin, she too, was over the age of consent. Americans did not approve, and he had to cancel a performance tour. He did nothing illegal, but we were rightly troubled. Thirteen is still the age of consent in many US states. Very young girl children are allowed to marry with parental consent. Why?
Plenty of terrible things have been legal in the past and some remain legal. That doesn't make them right or excusable. It doesn't mean that thoughtful people fail to recognize they are wrong. It means that insensitive and cruel people do not mind exploiting others. Slavery comes to mind. Beating a child bloody. Child marriage.
Further, there is still argument about whether he passed syphilis around to many women—Europeans did. That he was not treated with mercury for the disease is no proof either way. There was no safe cure at the time, and mercury was know to cause insanity. Gauguin's treatment of Van Gogh was at best unkind, at worst deplorable, though in Gauguin's version of the story he makes of himself a hero.
I love Gauguin's paintings, have loved them all my life, but he was a vile, selfish human being. And his paintings are beautiful. Both can be true.
June 26, 2025
4.5 rounded up. I really enjoyed this book
December 24, 2024
Very interesting. I liked that the images were throughout the book rather than in a bunch in the middle.
August 24, 2025
Bardzo lubię biografie, szczególnie jeśli są rzetelne, prezentują fascynującą postać i w dodatku są pięknie wydane. "Gauguin. Biografia dzikusa" spełnia wszystkie te warunki.
Sue Prideaux wykorzystała rękopis pamiętnika Gauguina, który odnaleziono w 2020 roku, a który stał się, co oczywiste, bezcennym źródłem wiedzy. W toku narracji autorka obala pewne narosłe przez lata mity, poświęca uwagę rodzinie i przyjaciołom Gauguina, tworząc rozległą i wielopoziomową opowieść.
Tytuł - "Biografia dzikusa", odnosi się do dzieciństwa Paula w Peru, które ukształtowało go i sprawiło, że później tak pokochał Tahiti. Ogromny wpływ, bezpośredni lub pośredni, miały na niego babcia (Flora Tristan - fascynująca postać!) i matka. Wcale nie malował "od zawsze", a gdy zaczął, jego kariera układała się niczym sinusoida - od wielkiej biedy, po bogactwo i od nowa...
Bardzo, bardzo ciekawa jest przyjaźń Gauguina z van Goghiem (i w sumie też z jego bratem), bardzo skomplikowana i mocno odznaczająca się na obu życiorysach. Zwróćcie koniecznie uwagę na autoportrety, które sobie dedykowali!
Zasadnicza część biografii dotyczy pobytu na Tahiti i - oczywiście - związku z Tehamaną, która "miała dar milczenia". Autorka nie ocenia malarza, który związał się z trzynastolatką, przedstawia fakty, osadza je w kontekście kulturowym, a ich interpretację pozostawia czytelnikom. Uznaję to za plus, bo zbyt zaangażowani emocjonalnie biografowie bywają nieznośni.
Mam nadal sporo wątpliwości co do relacji Gauguina z dzieckiem przecież i całego jego funkcjonowania w tamtej kulturze. Z drugiej strony - trudno nie zachwycać się obrazami z Tahiti...
Ciekawie jest tu opisane małżeństwo Paula z Mette Gad, dość specyficzną kobietą, o której dużo myślałam podczas lektury. I o dzieciach Gauguina, a była ich gromadka. Wiele smutku w tej historii.
Biografia Gauguina pełna jest dramatycznych zwrotów akcji, wzlotów, upadków i cierpienia, również fizycznego. Fascynuje mnie jako artysta, jako człowiek budzi we mnie pewne wątpliwości. Spędziłam z nim dzięki tej biografii wspaniały czas.
Polecam lekturę z całego serca, szczególnie że sporo w niej obrazów Gauguina, które dopełniają opowieść.
Sue Prideaux wykorzystała rękopis pamiętnika Gauguina, który odnaleziono w 2020 roku, a który stał się, co oczywiste, bezcennym źródłem wiedzy. W toku narracji autorka obala pewne narosłe przez lata mity, poświęca uwagę rodzinie i przyjaciołom Gauguina, tworząc rozległą i wielopoziomową opowieść.
Tytuł - "Biografia dzikusa", odnosi się do dzieciństwa Paula w Peru, które ukształtowało go i sprawiło, że później tak pokochał Tahiti. Ogromny wpływ, bezpośredni lub pośredni, miały na niego babcia (Flora Tristan - fascynująca postać!) i matka. Wcale nie malował "od zawsze", a gdy zaczął, jego kariera układała się niczym sinusoida - od wielkiej biedy, po bogactwo i od nowa...
Bardzo, bardzo ciekawa jest przyjaźń Gauguina z van Goghiem (i w sumie też z jego bratem), bardzo skomplikowana i mocno odznaczająca się na obu życiorysach. Zwróćcie koniecznie uwagę na autoportrety, które sobie dedykowali!
Zasadnicza część biografii dotyczy pobytu na Tahiti i - oczywiście - związku z Tehamaną, która "miała dar milczenia". Autorka nie ocenia malarza, który związał się z trzynastolatką, przedstawia fakty, osadza je w kontekście kulturowym, a ich interpretację pozostawia czytelnikom. Uznaję to za plus, bo zbyt zaangażowani emocjonalnie biografowie bywają nieznośni.
Mam nadal sporo wątpliwości co do relacji Gauguina z dzieckiem przecież i całego jego funkcjonowania w tamtej kulturze. Z drugiej strony - trudno nie zachwycać się obrazami z Tahiti...
Ciekawie jest tu opisane małżeństwo Paula z Mette Gad, dość specyficzną kobietą, o której dużo myślałam podczas lektury. I o dzieciach Gauguina, a była ich gromadka. Wiele smutku w tej historii.
Biografia Gauguina pełna jest dramatycznych zwrotów akcji, wzlotów, upadków i cierpienia, również fizycznego. Fascynuje mnie jako artysta, jako człowiek budzi we mnie pewne wątpliwości. Spędziłam z nim dzięki tej biografii wspaniały czas.
Polecam lekturę z całego serca, szczególnie że sporo w niej obrazów Gauguina, które dopełniają opowieść.
Read
August 4, 2025Longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize, Nonfiction
Faber & Faber edition in our library; might save the print version for later, but listened to the audiobook it was quite disappointing as someone so interested in art/artists (obviously!), knowing some of Gauguin’s complex & troubling life / ways, but beautiful works… just don’t understand how it was longlisted / featured here when other eligible books left off the list completely that are much more deserving… my favorite part was his feelings on van Gogh & talk of Debussy & etc, but maybe it was just not written / organized well? maybe it was the narrator’s voice? not sure… but will explore the print book later & see if my feelings for this book change.
rankings (shortlisted books numbered)
2025 Women’s Prize—Nonfiction
* Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
* By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice by Rebecca Nagle
1. Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and a Medical Miracle by Rachel Clarke
2. What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World's Ocean by Helen Scales
3. A Thousand Threads: A Memoir by Neneh Cherry
4. Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter by Clare Mulley
5. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
* Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
* Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men by Harriet Wistrich
* Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
* Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
* The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor
6. Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order by Yuan Yang
[14/16 read, & calling it; saving two in our library for later: Tracker by Alexis Wright & Ootlin by Jenni Fagan]
Faber & Faber edition in our library; might save the print version for later, but listened to the audiobook it was quite disappointing as someone so interested in art/artists (obviously!), knowing some of Gauguin’s complex & troubling life / ways, but beautiful works… just don’t understand how it was longlisted / featured here when other eligible books left off the list completely that are much more deserving… my favorite part was his feelings on van Gogh & talk of Debussy & etc, but maybe it was just not written / organized well? maybe it was the narrator’s voice? not sure… but will explore the print book later & see if my feelings for this book change.
rankings (shortlisted books numbered)
2025 Women’s Prize—Nonfiction
* Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
* By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice by Rebecca Nagle
1. Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and a Medical Miracle by Rachel Clarke
2. What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World's Ocean by Helen Scales
3. A Thousand Threads: A Memoir by Neneh Cherry
4. Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter by Clare Mulley
5. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
* Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum
* Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men by Harriet Wistrich
* Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
* Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
* The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor
6. Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order by Yuan Yang
[14/16 read, & calling it; saving two in our library for later: Tracker by Alexis Wright & Ootlin by Jenni Fagan]
September 22, 2025
4.5 stars rounded up. This was a fascinating account of Gaugin’s life. I listened to the audiobook. I also had a book of Gaugin’s art that I could refer to, but the print version has photos interspersed throughout and that would have been great. (My library only has the audiobook and ebook versions with many people waiting for each, and I couldn’t find a copy at a bookstore near me.) I enjoyed learning about the many forms of Gaugin’s art such as printmaking and sculpture and also about his childhood and early married life. The section on Van Gogh and Gaugin living together in Arles was especially interesting. I’m going to Arles next month and am looking forward to seeing the area where they lived and worked.
Reviewers of this book talked about the author shedding new light on some of the Gaugin myths and some of the problematic parts of his life -especially his life in Tahiti and relationships with teenage girls and the paintings he did there. I haven’t read any other books about Gaugin but feel like the author tried to pretty things up too much. Even if relationships with young girls were culturally acceptable, it still seems creepy to me. And it was hard to get past the fact that he pretty much deserted his family. Still I found his life very interesting and thought the book read more like historical fiction than history.
Reviewers of this book talked about the author shedding new light on some of the Gaugin myths and some of the problematic parts of his life -especially his life in Tahiti and relationships with teenage girls and the paintings he did there. I haven’t read any other books about Gaugin but feel like the author tried to pretty things up too much. Even if relationships with young girls were culturally acceptable, it still seems creepy to me. And it was hard to get past the fact that he pretty much deserted his family. Still I found his life very interesting and thought the book read more like historical fiction than history.
June 14, 2025
An excellent biography. I also recommend Mario Vargas Llosa’s novel on Gauguin and his socialist grandmother, Flora Tristan (The Way to Paradise ), though they cover some of the same events and themes.
June 1, 2025
Wild Thing A Life of Paul Gaugain by Sue Prideaux
Audio Version
Overall Grade: B
Information: B+
Writing/Organization: B+
Narration: A-
Best Aspect: Some very interesting and detailed information about the artists life.
Worst Aspect: This is painfully long and would probably be most enjoyed by lovers of art history.
Recommend: Yes.
Audio Version
Overall Grade: B
Information: B+
Writing/Organization: B+
Narration: A-
Best Aspect: Some very interesting and detailed information about the artists life.
Worst Aspect: This is painfully long and would probably be most enjoyed by lovers of art history.
Recommend: Yes.
November 28, 2025
Wow, this was so well put-together and compelling. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not passionate about Art History and didn’t know anything about Gauguin before reading this. I only picked this up because I wanted to finish the Women’s Prize for NF longlist, but I’m so glad I did. Prideaux is such a talent.
September 14, 2025
I loved learning more about Gaiguin. I listened to it, and the narrator sounded too uppity but if I turned up the speed, it was a bit better. I ended up buying the book as it shows pictures of his artwork she is discussing. I hope to read her book on Edvard Munch!
August 9, 2025
This was a high 3 read for me. I love late 19th century early 20th century art and the mythological artists who created a whole new form of expression. The author and her fellow researchers had a mountain to climb with Gauguin. There are facts about him: who his relatives were, who he married, how many kids he had with his wife, his notorious visit with Van Gogh, the time spent in Tahiti, the massive amount of artwork he produced. Then there is the conjecture. I felt like the author’s agenda was to cleanse his reputation. Like Van Gogh, the genius is in the artwork. But their actions in life are mad and irrational. It was hard to read about the continuing struggle with money and the failure to be any sort of presence in his childrens’ lives. Contrast this with his bedding 14 yr old girls in Tahiti and then his descent in to gross physical decay. I didn’t like reading the positive spins I guess. He was a mad rat who could paint.
Read
March 8, 2025I'm leaving this one unrated as it's very much unread.
I got this as a library loan, picking it up mainly for the front cover (shallow I know!) and for the fact that it was written by Sue Prideaux (whom I've read before). After getting through the first chapter I quickly realised, I'm just not that into Gauguin! Oh dear! Though this is very well written and Prideaux has done a superb job chronicling the life and times of Gauguin, I just wasn't into it. I halfheartedly skimmed through the pages, looking at the photos but my interest couldn't be stirred.
If you are a Gauguin fan, there is everything you'll ever want in here, with high quality colour photographs of many of his artworks included. It just wasn't for me.
I got this as a library loan, picking it up mainly for the front cover (shallow I know!) and for the fact that it was written by Sue Prideaux (whom I've read before). After getting through the first chapter I quickly realised, I'm just not that into Gauguin! Oh dear! Though this is very well written and Prideaux has done a superb job chronicling the life and times of Gauguin, I just wasn't into it. I halfheartedly skimmed through the pages, looking at the photos but my interest couldn't be stirred.
If you are a Gauguin fan, there is everything you'll ever want in here, with high quality colour photographs of many of his artworks included. It just wasn't for me.
February 27, 2025
A fascinating book about an interesting man who lived through turbulent times and met many people of unbounded creativity. Beyond the life story of the eternally rebellious artist, Prideaux does well to describe characters and events that influenced Gauguin and his approach to his art, on top of often times being deeply interesting on their own. There were many times I paused reading to share a fun anecdote with my ever patient partner who is likely quite happy I've finished this large book.
September 23, 2025
I loved this biography about Paul Gauguin. I have been under the assumption for years that Paul Gauguin, though an artist of intriguing artworks, was a scoundrel—he left his wife and five children, was the cause of Van Gogh’s tragic ear-chopping accident, and married a thirteen-year-old girl in Tahiti. Sue Prideaux’s book, Wild Thing: The Life of Gauguin, proved me wrong on all counts. I also learned that Gauguin’s works, especially his ceramics, were very much admired and influenced the works of his peers that included Degas, Matisse, Picasso, and Monet.
“Gauguin’s ceramics were first exhibited in 1903, six months after his death, in Vollard’s gallery. They were admired by Degas, Matisse, and a young Picasso … They were a springboard for Matisse and Picasso to make their own freely modeled ‘primitive’ pieces.” (p. 104).
I appreciate Gauguin’s art far more since finishing the book. There were several images of Gauguin’s works interleaved throughout the book within pages that aligned with the story. This is different from most other art biographical books I’ve read, which usually have the pages with the images of artworks grouped together in the center of the book or in two or three sections. This strategy sure beats the tediousness of flipping through pages to view mentioned artworks.
Back to my incorrect assumptions: I learned that Gauguin didn’t leave his wife but traveled to various places to either find work or paint on location (as in Tahiti). In both scenarios Gauguin's aim was to send money back to his wife, either via his earnings or artworks to sell. His wife also had in her possession paintings Gauguin had purchased from his peers—which he had given her permission to sell as needed to pay the bills in his absence. Gauguin’s earning power, however, was intermittent, which contributed to his decline and despair. It was his lack of income that contributed to Gauguin choosing to live in Tahiti, which he viewed as an opportunity to create art in an inspirational and inexpensive setting. His stay in Tahiti ended up being far more complicated. Though he did create some of his best work in Tahiti, it led to a separation from his wife and complicated relationships with several locals (including a 13-year old girl) that caused distress both for Gauguin and his reputation back home. Gauguin, to his credit, was a champion for the Tahitian people and their customs—he fought for their rights and liberties that were suppressed and controlled at the time by the French government. According to Prideaux, Gaugin was also a champion of women’s rights, believing that women had rights to agency and independence.
I was most happy to learn from Prideaux that Gauguin was not the cause of Van Gogh’s tragic ear-cutting incident after all and, in fact, Gauguin was supportive of Van Gogh artistically and emotionally. Gauguin was in frequent contact with Van Gogh’s brother, Theo, before and after the accident—it was Gauguin who contacted Theo when Van Gogh cut his ear. Furthermore, Gauguin stayed in contact with Van Gogh after he left the Yellow House in Arles, via frequent letter exchanges that discussed their art.
Gauguin led an artistically productive and fascinating life, yet it was not without despair and tragedy. He was estranged from his children for most of his life for reasons not all of his doing; his health was poor in later life, and he died without family and few friends. But Gauguin left an intriguing and eclectic oeuvre of ceramics, sculpture, and paintings that are beautiful, thought-provoking, and inspiring. How fortunate we are to have his artworks and to have books like Wild Thing to learn about this complicated and talented man.
“Gauguin’s ceramics were first exhibited in 1903, six months after his death, in Vollard’s gallery. They were admired by Degas, Matisse, and a young Picasso … They were a springboard for Matisse and Picasso to make their own freely modeled ‘primitive’ pieces.” (p. 104).
I appreciate Gauguin’s art far more since finishing the book. There were several images of Gauguin’s works interleaved throughout the book within pages that aligned with the story. This is different from most other art biographical books I’ve read, which usually have the pages with the images of artworks grouped together in the center of the book or in two or three sections. This strategy sure beats the tediousness of flipping through pages to view mentioned artworks.
Back to my incorrect assumptions: I learned that Gauguin didn’t leave his wife but traveled to various places to either find work or paint on location (as in Tahiti). In both scenarios Gauguin's aim was to send money back to his wife, either via his earnings or artworks to sell. His wife also had in her possession paintings Gauguin had purchased from his peers—which he had given her permission to sell as needed to pay the bills in his absence. Gauguin’s earning power, however, was intermittent, which contributed to his decline and despair. It was his lack of income that contributed to Gauguin choosing to live in Tahiti, which he viewed as an opportunity to create art in an inspirational and inexpensive setting. His stay in Tahiti ended up being far more complicated. Though he did create some of his best work in Tahiti, it led to a separation from his wife and complicated relationships with several locals (including a 13-year old girl) that caused distress both for Gauguin and his reputation back home. Gauguin, to his credit, was a champion for the Tahitian people and their customs—he fought for their rights and liberties that were suppressed and controlled at the time by the French government. According to Prideaux, Gaugin was also a champion of women’s rights, believing that women had rights to agency and independence.
I was most happy to learn from Prideaux that Gauguin was not the cause of Van Gogh’s tragic ear-cutting incident after all and, in fact, Gauguin was supportive of Van Gogh artistically and emotionally. Gauguin was in frequent contact with Van Gogh’s brother, Theo, before and after the accident—it was Gauguin who contacted Theo when Van Gogh cut his ear. Furthermore, Gauguin stayed in contact with Van Gogh after he left the Yellow House in Arles, via frequent letter exchanges that discussed their art.
Gauguin led an artistically productive and fascinating life, yet it was not without despair and tragedy. He was estranged from his children for most of his life for reasons not all of his doing; his health was poor in later life, and he died without family and few friends. But Gauguin left an intriguing and eclectic oeuvre of ceramics, sculpture, and paintings that are beautiful, thought-provoking, and inspiring. How fortunate we are to have his artworks and to have books like Wild Thing to learn about this complicated and talented man.
August 24, 2025
To look at a work of art in a museum has always been an inspiring experience for me, a way to feel peace and joy. I suppose the peace and joy come from being close to the kind of success, possibility, achievement, and fulfillment that I find grounding, as opposed to standing near, say, a $160 million yacht. To be near things of extremely high monetary value is a high-energy experience. Here it is, the culture says. A Gauguin. Stand back, don’t touch. The difference between a billionaire’s yacht and a Gauguin or a Van Gogh or a Picasso is that intellectuals and educated societies revere the artist as a noble being. It’s ideal to look down on the sordid selfish lives of yacht-owning billionaires (while floating past them in a San Diego ferry) and ideal to envy the artist who made a painting of similar monetary value in the Musee d’Orsay. To be Bezos—spiritually sad. To be Gauguin, ah, that’s fulfillment.
But the life of Gauguin as told here gives pause. It’s fascinating, yes. This is a gripping yarn, and it reads more like a yarn than a biography. The style is a bit too bombastic for me, blending opinion and description and factual material with a little too much abandon. That’s part of what gives me pause—Gauguin as received artist is all too clearly here a symbol of our preoccupations. We can only see him from a place of colonial and patriarchal reckoning. Did he exploit or celebrate his models? Was he an evil predator or a brave activist? The book can only succeed in the marketplace if he was a brave activist. Prideaux convinced me, more or less, that he was brave and an activist and creepy at the same time, that he was a participant in a culture that said X and Y sexual behaviors are normal, and therefore he was not more predatory than any other man in Tahiti or the Marquesas. But she also convinced me that Gauguin’s paintings are expressive of a unsatisfied, ravenous mania. It was, as an impulse, destructive of anyone and anything in its path: women, children, friends, neighbors. I’m left with the uncomfortable thought that being with Gauguin would be just as unpleasant as being with a greedy billionaire, except that the greedy billionaire enjoys his wealth while he’s alive, and Gauguin suffered and scraped and fretted to the end of his life.
So am I saying you should read it? Yes, I suppose I am. But not because it will make you love his art more or feel it is a net good that we have Gauguin’s paintings. His art was made in pursuit of existential knowledge. They are profound and original and existentially provocative, but people were harmed by that pursuit, including Gauguin. To be in the circumference of his mania was to suffer.
But the life of Gauguin as told here gives pause. It’s fascinating, yes. This is a gripping yarn, and it reads more like a yarn than a biography. The style is a bit too bombastic for me, blending opinion and description and factual material with a little too much abandon. That’s part of what gives me pause—Gauguin as received artist is all too clearly here a symbol of our preoccupations. We can only see him from a place of colonial and patriarchal reckoning. Did he exploit or celebrate his models? Was he an evil predator or a brave activist? The book can only succeed in the marketplace if he was a brave activist. Prideaux convinced me, more or less, that he was brave and an activist and creepy at the same time, that he was a participant in a culture that said X and Y sexual behaviors are normal, and therefore he was not more predatory than any other man in Tahiti or the Marquesas. But she also convinced me that Gauguin’s paintings are expressive of a unsatisfied, ravenous mania. It was, as an impulse, destructive of anyone and anything in its path: women, children, friends, neighbors. I’m left with the uncomfortable thought that being with Gauguin would be just as unpleasant as being with a greedy billionaire, except that the greedy billionaire enjoys his wealth while he’s alive, and Gauguin suffered and scraped and fretted to the end of his life.
So am I saying you should read it? Yes, I suppose I am. But not because it will make you love his art more or feel it is a net good that we have Gauguin’s paintings. His art was made in pursuit of existential knowledge. They are profound and original and existentially provocative, but people were harmed by that pursuit, including Gauguin. To be in the circumference of his mania was to suffer.
August 10, 2025
Wild Thing is based in part on new information about Paul Gauguin which was discovered in 2020; information which changes many beliefs and perceptions of the man. In 1918, his writings were published as Paul Gauguin’s Intimate Journals. It is quite different from his newly rediscovered actual book, Avant et après, which is in his own handwriting and used for this biography.
Biographer Sue Prideaux describes the development of Gauguin’s painting, his marriage to Danish Mette-Sophie God, their five children and his eventual financial problems. After losing his job as a stockbroker, due to market problems, he was rarely employed.
Gauguin wanted to paint and took lessons from Camile Pisarro, but Gauguin's style differed from the popular impressionists. He tried sculpture, ceramics, wood carving and print making, with minimal success, but Mette supported the family by teaching French and by translating works into Danish.
Eventually Gauguin decided to move to Tahiti where life was cheap and the women beautiful. It was rumored that the housing and the food were free. They weren’t, but young women were willing to live with and take care of him. Gauguin painted in Tahiti, developing his own style, and sent his work back to Paris for sale and exhibition.
Still there never was enough money and Gauguin was not careful with the money he did have. His health deteriorated. Before he died he became involved with France’s relationship to their colonies. He wrote letters and participated in protests.
Paul Gauguin lived a wild life, almost doing just what he wanted to do. In Prideaux’s telling he was not completely a user of young Tahitian women and the recent discovery of his teeth proved that he did not have a sexual disease to spread among the Tahitian women.
I enjoyed learning more about this artist. I was especially interested in his relationship with van Gogh, from Gauguin's perspective, as I’ve read about it from van Gogh’s perspective by his biographers. And it helps to know that he might not deserve all of his bad reputation.
I listened to the audio book which was narrated by Elizabeth Wiley. Her voice did not enhance the book, but I eventually got used to it. Some listeners complain that she does not properly pronounce the French or Tahitian words.
Wild Thing was longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.
Biographer Sue Prideaux describes the development of Gauguin’s painting, his marriage to Danish Mette-Sophie God, their five children and his eventual financial problems. After losing his job as a stockbroker, due to market problems, he was rarely employed.
Gauguin wanted to paint and took lessons from Camile Pisarro, but Gauguin's style differed from the popular impressionists. He tried sculpture, ceramics, wood carving and print making, with minimal success, but Mette supported the family by teaching French and by translating works into Danish.
Eventually Gauguin decided to move to Tahiti where life was cheap and the women beautiful. It was rumored that the housing and the food were free. They weren’t, but young women were willing to live with and take care of him. Gauguin painted in Tahiti, developing his own style, and sent his work back to Paris for sale and exhibition.
Still there never was enough money and Gauguin was not careful with the money he did have. His health deteriorated. Before he died he became involved with France’s relationship to their colonies. He wrote letters and participated in protests.
Paul Gauguin lived a wild life, almost doing just what he wanted to do. In Prideaux’s telling he was not completely a user of young Tahitian women and the recent discovery of his teeth proved that he did not have a sexual disease to spread among the Tahitian women.
I enjoyed learning more about this artist. I was especially interested in his relationship with van Gogh, from Gauguin's perspective, as I’ve read about it from van Gogh’s perspective by his biographers. And it helps to know that he might not deserve all of his bad reputation.
I listened to the audio book which was narrated by Elizabeth Wiley. Her voice did not enhance the book, but I eventually got used to it. Some listeners complain that she does not properly pronounce the French or Tahitian words.
Wild Thing was longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.
October 12, 2025
I suppose that I started with the basic knowledge of Gauguin, worked with Van Gogh and ended up somewhere in the South Pacific.
The book leads us through his remarkable and varied life in South America, France, some years as a sailor and then the move to the South Pacific.
He didn’t show much interest in painting early on, but contact with various teachers, family and friends, but during early employment at the Bourse started to dabble.
The book charts his life in great detail, some parts more interesting to me than others, generally when more people are within his orbit, so in Peru and France, in particular.
Particularly, the book deals with the main artistic characters of the day and the artistic movements, this was very good, I didn’t realise how seriously colour was studied by Gauguin and others. Also there was the “move” against science and an interest in the supernatural. In Tahiti and later in Atuona he railed against the “civilisation” of the local people by the French government.
While he was a successful broker, he married and had children, and unfortunately got used to living a good life and when that job ended and he took to his art, his marriage suffered and he was almost always struggling for money. This theme runs through the book.
Another theme is the role of the art dealer. Gauguin spent some time trying to find his style and eventually went ahead of the most of the buyers. So getting his pictures shown and bought was a continuing struggle and he made some bad choices, mainly due to his lack of marketability. One does wonder of the dealers are the main beneficiary of the market.
His time in the South Pacific was less interesting as his world gets smaller, although the reality of life there was not quite as idyllic as the earlier travelling books has suggested.
In the South Pacific we find that Gauguin sets up home with a number of young teenage girls, although one at a time. This was in line with local mores, but does raise questions about whether he took advantage of his higher status.
He lived a varied and eventful life and although he did seem to find contentment at the end, he lived through some hard and sad times.
Worth a read for the main characters and the mood of late 19th century Paris, and of course Gauguin.
The book leads us through his remarkable and varied life in South America, France, some years as a sailor and then the move to the South Pacific.
He didn’t show much interest in painting early on, but contact with various teachers, family and friends, but during early employment at the Bourse started to dabble.
The book charts his life in great detail, some parts more interesting to me than others, generally when more people are within his orbit, so in Peru and France, in particular.
Particularly, the book deals with the main artistic characters of the day and the artistic movements, this was very good, I didn’t realise how seriously colour was studied by Gauguin and others. Also there was the “move” against science and an interest in the supernatural. In Tahiti and later in Atuona he railed against the “civilisation” of the local people by the French government.
While he was a successful broker, he married and had children, and unfortunately got used to living a good life and when that job ended and he took to his art, his marriage suffered and he was almost always struggling for money. This theme runs through the book.
Another theme is the role of the art dealer. Gauguin spent some time trying to find his style and eventually went ahead of the most of the buyers. So getting his pictures shown and bought was a continuing struggle and he made some bad choices, mainly due to his lack of marketability. One does wonder of the dealers are the main beneficiary of the market.
His time in the South Pacific was less interesting as his world gets smaller, although the reality of life there was not quite as idyllic as the earlier travelling books has suggested.
In the South Pacific we find that Gauguin sets up home with a number of young teenage girls, although one at a time. This was in line with local mores, but does raise questions about whether he took advantage of his higher status.
He lived a varied and eventful life and although he did seem to find contentment at the end, he lived through some hard and sad times.
Worth a read for the main characters and the mood of late 19th century Paris, and of course Gauguin.
June 29, 2025
Exceptionally well researched and written biography of Paul Gauguin, a gutsy man and artist of world renown.
A husband, a father, a loner, a genius in his own way, a frivolous stock broker in Paris, and a man who found his calling and struggles in French Polynesia in the last part of the 19th century.
He definitely followed his calling, and there is zero sense of regret. An unusual trip, but he definitely followed his heart…. Great narrative. A very interesting man …..
A husband, a father, a loner, a genius in his own way, a frivolous stock broker in Paris, and a man who found his calling and struggles in French Polynesia in the last part of the 19th century.
He definitely followed his calling, and there is zero sense of regret. An unusual trip, but he definitely followed his heart…. Great narrative. A very interesting man …..
August 17, 2025
A comprehensive biography of the artist Paul Gauguin. Most of us know Gauguin for his paintings from Tahiti and his friendship with Vincent Van Gogh, but his life and his work was far wider ranging than that. During his time living in Polynesia, he fought tirelessly for the French to return government rule to the Polynesian peoples, while painting their images in a more natural style than accepted European tradition.
April 18, 2025
It’s hard to imagine a better, more readable biography of Gauguin. Sue Prideaux also does well in conveying a sense of the times in which he lived. Inevitably, she tells his side of the story. It would be interesting to read an account from the perspective of his wife.
The illustrations are good too, so I’d recommend reading a physical book.
The illustrations are good too, so I’d recommend reading a physical book.
June 14, 2025
Very detailed life story of a fascinating man. I listened to the audiobook - a mistake. I should have read a book with plates to see the paintings as they were discussed. I looked them
Up online but it’s not the same,
Up online but it’s not the same,
August 21, 2025
What an interesting man. I basically knew nothing about him except he painted while in the south seas. I learned so much about him and his wife and kids that lived in Denmark (I believe), away from him!
June 16, 2025
Excellent biography-the amount of research was incredible!
August 15, 2025
This book is a major accomplishment as it coalesces the many writings of Gauguin himself, along with his contemporaries, translating and comparing research as the they were available. Ms. Prideaux has the intimate empathy of an artists insight and she has been able to miraculously in some sections exhume interrelated artists subjectivities and through this offer profoundly new revelations. The book as offered works well through about 3/4 and then as his life begins to wind down so does the reportage, however this is to be understood as the majority of “action” one generally enjoys through reading naturally takes this kind of turn. A genuine sadness comes through at Gauguin’s end as we see the accomplishment of a life lived with enormous passion and a sacred reverence for the Works of the Universe and God - whatever that may be.
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