Te raau rahi (The Big Tree)

Museum record 111062: Te raau rahi (The Big Tree) by Paul Gauguin. A verified entry point for discovery.

What to notice

For Te raau rahi (The Big Tree) (record 111062), start with modern, expressive, atmospheric. Compare the focal subject, edge treatment, and atmosphere before moving on.

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“Everything in the landscape blinded and dazzled me,” wrote Paul Gauguin of his first months in Tahiti. Here, he showcased the island’s variety of bountiful fruit trees, including a thick-trunked, violet hotu at left; spindly mango and coconut trees; and three short banana plants with lush, splayed leaves. In the foreground, a man uses a stick to crack a coconut and a family rests in the grass with a sleeping dog beside them. The painting’s coarsely woven canvas, made of a fibrous plant matter (jute), is…