Paul Gauguin Interpretation Centre, Art interpretation center in Le Carbet, Martinique.
The Paul Gauguin Interpretation Centre in Le Carbet is an art facility that explores the French painter's time in Martinique. Four pavilions surround a central courtyard planted with tropical fruit trees that echo subjects from his paintings.
This facility began as a museum in 1973 to honor Gauguin's connection to the region. A complete redesign transformed it into an interpretation center that opened in 2017 to offer deeper insights into the artist and his stay.
The pavilions here show how Gauguin's experience changed the way artists viewed the Caribbean and its inhabitants. His work created a bridge between European artistic styles and the local traditions and natural beauty he encountered.
The site reopened to the public on 13 July 2017 after renovation work begun in 2011, which included bringing the buildings up to standards for visitors with reduced mobility. The four pavilions are arranged around a central courtyard, so allow time to move between them and to walk the courtyard route past the fruit trees.
The centre holds no original Gauguin works: the Martinican and Tahitian paintings on view are reproductions interpreted by the painter Scopas, alongside facsimiles of Gauguin's letters to his wife and friends and copies of his sketches. It also keeps ceramics from Saint-Pierre dating from before the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée.
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