Oviri

1891–1901 · Workplace

Tahiti

1892

Teha'amana, His Tahitian Wife

As Gauguin recounted in his book Noa Noa, at this time he took the young Tahitian girl Teha'amana (Tehura in the book) as his vahine; by the end of summer 1892 she was expecting his child. Teha'amana became the model for a number of his works.

August 1893

Return to France

In August 1893 Gauguin returned to France, where he continued painting Tahitian subjects such as Mahana no atua and Nave nave moe; he rented an apartment on rue Vercingétorix on the edge of Montparnasse and held a weekly salon, cultivating an exotic image.

November 1894

Exhibition at Durand-Ruel

The exhibition at the Durand-Ruel gallery had moderate success: 11 of the 40 paintings shown were sold at fairly high prices; soon afterwards, however, Gauguin lost Durand-Ruel's patronage.

February – April 1895

Failed Auction and the Oviri Scandal

In February 1895 Gauguin tried to repeat the Hôtel Drouot auction, but without success; in April he submitted the large ceramic sculpture Oviri to the salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, whose reception caused a scandal, and wrote an indignant letter on the state of modern ceramics in Le Soir.

28 June 1895

Final Departure for Oceania

On 28 June 1895 Gauguin sailed once more for Tahiti — Eugène Carrière arranged cheap passage for him — arriving in September; he never saw Europe again. He spent the next six years mostly near Papeete, building a spacious house at Punaauia.