Gauguin's Noa Noa

An early explorer of modern art, Paul Gauguin left France for Tahiti, where he immersed himself in Maori mythology. Noa Noa, his intimate journal of writings, watercolors, and woodcuts, was discovered years after he left the island. For the 100-year anniversary of Gauguin s death, Marc Le Bot revisits the most beautiful pages of this under-appreciated masterpiece. Farewell, hospitable land, delicious land, home of freedom and beauty! I leave after two years, twenty years younger, more uncouth therefore than on arrival and yet more educated. Yes, the savages have taught many things to the old civilized man, many things, those illiterates, about the science of living and the art of being happy.