One of the most enthusiastic painters to travel to far away cultures was Paul Gauguin. He was considered to be the rebel against modern society. Gauguin loved the presence of nature and natural form and a longing to travel to far-away, exotic places. With that, he could reinvent what he saw and express what others couldn’t see.

Gauguin traveled to Tahiti in 1891 to experience the native ways. In Tahiti Gauguin was shocked to find that Western missionaries and colonials had infringed on the native culture life. A place once characteristically known to be settled with people, who mainly lived off the land, was known filled with French government officials. In addition, clothing trends had changed in the inhabitants as most women were now seen wearing long dresses as opposed to more revealing clothing. Tahiti also didn’t have the nat

instrument. The rest of the figures in the painting are either bathing in the sun or hugging a loved one.

Another Matisse painting that was influenced by African culture was Blue Nude: Memory of Biskra 1907. Biskra is a part of the North African desert that Matisse had visited. The composition is a sprawled out female nude with one arm bent over her head and one leg crossed over the other leg and bent towards the viewer. It is a very odd pose which suggests abstraction and no comfort. Aiding in the abstraction is the very dark sketch-like outline of the figure and the exaggerated roundness of muscles, thighs, breasts, and buttocks. The face of the nude model is very mask like looking which is a direct reference to African art. Finally, going along with the theme of most primitivist works of art, the painting displays abstract blue with the rest of the background green.

Paul Gauguin’s best known piece that personifies his love of natural culture is called Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? 1897-98. I think the title itself has primitive connotation because it brings us back to an earlier time asking why we were put on this earth and by whom, and so on. It is a very large and wide painting that seems to have a type of narrative to it. Pictured is a Tahitian paradise filled with females of all ages that are enjoying what nature has to offer. They a

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