In 1891, French artist Paul Gauguin went to find such a life in French Polynesia. But reality soon set in. His dissolute past brought disease and suffering to himself and others. As he felt death approaching, he painted what has been described as a “final affirmation of artistic force.” The book Paul Gauguin 1848-1903—The Primitive Sophisticate says: “The spectrum of human activity encompassed by the painting spans all of life, from birth to death . . . He was interpreting life as a great mystery.”

Gauguin named that painting “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?”a

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Gauguin’s painting raised questions about the meaning of life