(b. 1848, Paris, d. 1903, Atuona, Hiva Oa, French Polynesia)
Rave te hiti ramu (The Idol)
1898
Oil on canvas, 74 x 92 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
During his final stay in Polynesia, Gauguin produced several depictions of idols, including the sculpture that was destined to be his tombstone. The impassionate idol rising above the tangle of vegetation embodied in the artist's eyes the power of nature for which life and death are inseparable.
