Marquesas/Hiva Oa: Paul Gaughen Museum in Atuona

The famous French post-impressionist Paul Gauguin spent the last ten years of his life in the French Polynesia and the last three years on Hiva Oa island. Some of his most famous paintings of the local men and women (mostly naked women) were painted here. His grave overlooks the town of Atuona and a museum dedicated to him graces the town center. While most paintings are reproductions (the tiny middle-of-nowhere Marquesas Islands can’t compete with New York or London galleries), it covers a lot of Gauguin’s work throughout his life, highlighting many of his Polynesian masterpieces. While I am not a big fan of his rather square and boxy depictions of people (women look like bodybuilders), it’s easy to see why Picasso would get his inspiration from the Frenchman’s style.


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