Alive - man looking at painting by Gaugain

Arii Matamoe is title of the painting by Paul Gaugain the man is looking at. It shows a decapitated human head. The notion of a human head ritually displayed in an ornate interior suggests the formality of a ruler lying in state. The dark subject manner stems from real events and the artist witnessing a public execution. Gaugain made it during his first stay in Polynesia in the early 1890s and the title is Tahitian for noble sleeping eys i.e death. Luckily my figure isn't dead at all, he's enjoying his life by looking at some great art in the Getty Center in Los Angeles!

kind regards, Gerard Boersma



Alive
G. Boersma
acrylics on masonite
6.7" x 6" or 17 x 15 cm
2009
SOLD

Larger sized image
www.gerardboersma.blogspot.com