Paul Gauguin, Tahiti /

Here is yet another large, challenging, scholarly, and philosophical book about Gauguin, excellently represented with many known and "unknown" illustrations (most of them in gorgeous color) and in different media--paintings, sculpture, ceramics, watercolors, prints, and drawings. In a simple and subtle way, the titles of almost all Gauguin's masterpieces conjure up fundamental themes of human existence: love, sexuality, jealousy, guilt, sacrifice, dreams, life and death, etc., inexorably linked to the paradisiacal beauty in the paintings, where all contradictions appear to be resolved. Becker maintains that Gauguin's titles suggest the perfect harmony that sublimates all unanswered and unanswerable questions, such as "Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?" Tahiti includes the catalog of Gauguin's oeuvre, photo-illustrated biography, and six pages of multilingual bibliography. The authors provide an in-depth look at the prehistory of Gauguin's journey to Tahiti, a description of his complex body of prints created in Brittany and Paris, and his encounters as a traveler to evocatively exotic cultures. A magnificent treasure and a reminder that Gauguin (1848-1903) remains in the history of art as a creator who encompasses enigma and incomprehensibility, an extraordinary and immortal "Father" of modern art. Most highly recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. I. Spalatin; Texas A&M University-Commerce

Filled with more than 60 beautiful color reproductions and 20 black-and-white photographs, this well-documented book wasoriginally published to accompany an exhibition at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart in Germany. Editor Becker, curator of 19th-century painting and sculpture at the museum, has compiled four topical essays, written in a matter-of-fact style, which are complemented by a biography, a bibliography, and a catalog of works. Becker's own 85-page "Gauguin and Tahiti" is followed by writings on the artist's prints, his life before moving to the South Pacific, and "ethnological considerations." Gauguin produced some 800 works, so this publication is by no means a complete catalog. However, by concentrating on the most storied years of his life, the book becomes an excellent starting point for those interested in the vibrant world of Gauguin.‘Jennifer L.S. Moldwin, Detroit Inst. of Arts Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.