In 1891, Paul Gauguin* left France for Tahiti, seeking in the South Seas a society that was simpler and more elemental than that of his homeland.
In Tahiti, he created paintings that express a highly personal mythology. He considered this work -created in 1897, at a time of great personal crisis- to be his masterpiece and the summation of his ideas.
Gauguin’s letters suggest that the fresco-like painting should be read from right to left, beginning with the sleeping infant.
He describes the various figures as pondering the questions of human existence given in the title; the blue idol represents "the Beyond". The old woman at the far left, "close to death", accepts her fate with resignation. | © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston