Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux

I read a review of his book before putting it on my library requests, and was intrigued that the author was contending that Gauguin was a more complicated man than he is remembered for. She opens with the discovery of 4 of his teeth in the cistern where he lived in Tahiti, and that they do not reveal treatment for syphilis that were typical at the time he lived and died. He has been remembered as both a pedophile and a spreader of disease in the typical colonial fashion, but that on closer investigation it is true that he was bonded to two different girls, both of whom were 13 at the time their relationship began, which was the age of consent in Tahiti at the time and the relationships were blessed by the girls families--again, in compliance with the standards of the time. Then she later delineates his role in protecting the rights of Tahitians against the predatory practices of colonial Frenchmen, which is well documented in the book, as well as why that would have been the case based on his upbringing and his other stances on record. This is an all inclusive rendition of Gauguin's life, which is fascinating and definitely changed my ill informed view of him that I had before reading the book. He did not start off as an artist, but once he went that way, he crossed paths with Vincent and Theo Van Gogh, who liked him personally and found his work as an artist to be quite impressive. He he had modest success while he was alive, and his collaborative relationship with the Van Goghs helped both artists develop. I would definitely recommend this--it is well written, well researched, and peppered with lots of reproductions of Gauguin's work--that are both high quality and placed where she is talking about the painting rather than in a separate section disconnected from the discussion, which I really liked.