Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) was never content to follow convention. Born in Paris and raised partly in Peru, he became a sailor, a stockbroker, a husband and father—and then abandoned it all to chase beauty and meaning through art.

His palette exploded with passionate colors. A pioneer of the Symbolist movement, Gauguin believed that art came from the heart, not the eye. His bold, rule-breaking style defied Impressionism and helped shape the course of modern painting.

After a turbulent friendship with Vincent van Gogh, Gauguin left Europe’s noise behind and sailed to Tahiti, seeking to live “like a savage.” There, he embraced simplicity, nature, and his dream of a spiritual studio in the tropics. “What does it matter if I become remote from other people?” he asked. “For most I shall be a riddle—for a few, I’ll be a poet.”

He called his style Synthetism and painted mystical scenes using pure, unmixed colors and flattened forms. His work celebrated spirit, myth, and the eternal longing to return to what is real.

“I am a great artist,” he once declared. And history has agreed. Gauguin’s fearless choices continue to inspire those who seek freedom through creativity.