Gauguin shamed for Tahiti sex abuse as new exhibition opens
To the art aficionados of the late 19th century, they were primitive but beautiful savages, free of the bourgeois codes of morality that restricted the sexual availability of European women.
However, nearly 130 years on, art critics are re-evaluating Paul Gauguin’s use of young models during his now legendary stay on Tahiti between 1891 and 1893.
So much so that the National Gallery has felt compelled to point out to visitors that for all his bohemian reputation, the French artist had a colonialist mindset, and that the subjects of some of his most famous paintings were young girls he sexually exploited.
One, Teha’amana a Tahura, became Gauguin’s ‘‘wife’’ on the Pacific island, despite being just 13 years old.
The catalogue and accompanying material for the new exhibition, Gauguin Portraits, which opened last week at the gallery, spell out this uncomfortable truth only too clearly.
Midway through the exhibition, visitors are greeted by a wall text, stating: ‘‘Gauguin undoubtedly exploited his position as a privileged Westerner to make the most of sexual freedoms available to him.’’ Introducing a section of the exhibition on Gauguin and vahine (women), the guide says: ‘‘In Gauguin’s day, European colonial and misogynist fantasies about Polynesian women were widespread. He repeatedly entered into sexual relations with young girls, ‘marrying’ two of them and fathering children. Teha’amana’s experience of their relationship is not recorded.’’
A caption to the painting of Teha’amana naked on a bed, titled Manao tupapau (The Spirit of the Dead Watching), states: ‘‘Her implied vulnerability to superstition, the sexualised nature of her pose and Gauguin’s implicit superiority make the work one of his most disturbing portraits.’’
The decision to add these explainers for the thousands of visitors expected to attend the exhibition over the next four months, follows questions raised in the wake of the #MeToo movement as to whether an artist’s work can be judged separately from his ethical and moral conduct. Christopher Riopelle, the National Gallery’s curator of post-1800 paintings, who coorganised the show with guest curator Cornelia Homburg, of the National Gallery of Canada, told ArtNet: ‘‘Five years ago, when we started working on the exhibition, we realised that we would need to address these issues.’’
Speaking at a discussion held at the National Gallery on Friday about how Gauguin’s work should be viewed today, Shahidha Bari, professor of fashion cultures and histories at the London College of Fashion, said: ‘‘We do not always have a choice about the work we love and admire. We don’t always have a choice about the ways that we respond to works that move us and provoke us.
‘‘No matter how much we despise a moral character, we are often much closer to them than we might like.’’