Taperaa Mahana 1892

Taperaa Mahana was made by Paul Gauguin around the end of the 19th century, using oil on canvas. The use of paint here is not necessarily ‘traditional’ but think about the materials that are not there, such as natural dyes, pigments, woven textiles, and other indigenous crafts. Gauguin made this work with quick, expressive brushstrokes and a flattening of form. The Tahitian women depicted are generalized and don't relate to local techniques, unlike the traditional practices of the subjects themselves. The labor of painting becomes very immediate and apparent. This would have been presented in stark contrast to the reality of life in Tahiti at this time. Gauguin, like many artists of his time, appropriated ideas and aesthetics from cultures outside the Western tradition. Yet, he did so using the tools and materials of Western artmaking, perpetuating a colonial dynamic even in his artistic practice. It reminds us that artistic expression is always intertwined with social and political contexts.