Paul Gauguin Museum, Art museum in Papeari, Tahiti.
The Paul Gauguin Museum is an art museum in the village of Papeari, on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. It occupies a Japanese-style building and holds a collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, gouaches, photographs, and documents related to the artist's work.
The museum was founded in 1964 by Father Patrick O'Reilly and the Singer-Polignac Foundation, on the land where Gauguin settled after arriving in Tahiti in 1891. The site is directly tied to the Polynesian years of his life.
The museum sits close to where the artist once lived, and the works on display show how the landscapes and people of Polynesia shaped his use of color and form. Walking through the rooms, visitors can see the direct link between the paintings and the islands that surrounded him.
The museum is at PK 51 on Tahiti's coastal road, next to the Botanical Gardens of Papeari, and is easiest to reach by car. It is worth checking whether it is open before you go, as the site sometimes closes for renovation work.
The museum holds no original paintings by Gauguin, as his major works are kept in large museums in Europe and the United States. The collection focuses instead on reproductions, documents, and objects that trace his life and work on the islands.
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