Daisies and peonies in blue vase 1876

Paul Gauguin, sometime in the late 19th century, painted this lush bouquet of Daisies and Peonies in a Blue Vase. Gauguin, who would later reject European convention, made this painting early in his career, when he was still finding his voice. Here, flowers burst forth from a delicately painted vase. Gauguin was part of a generation grappling with industrialization, modernity, and its effects on the human spirit. Many, including Gauguin, looked to pre-industrial societies for a kind of authenticity they felt was missing in Europe. Gauguin moved to Tahiti in search of an untouched paradise, but, of course, he brought himself and his cultural biases with him. This painting, made before his voyage, carries a certain longing for a simpler, perhaps imagined, past. It invites us to consider what it means to seek authenticity outside oneself, and the colonial implications of such a quest. This painting serves as a potent reminder of the complexities inherent in our desires for something "more."