The Seed of the Areoi

Painted in 1892 on a hessian support during Gauguin's first Tahitian stay, this monumental figure of a Tahitian woman is one of the most important works from the period. The Areoi were a Polynesian secret society associated with fertility and performance. Gauguin invests the seated figure with the gravity and composure of a fertility goddess, drawing on his extensive research into Polynesian religion and mythology recorded in his manuscript Noa Noa. Now at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, this work represents Gauguin's fully synthesised Tahitian style.

The hessian support imparts a distinctive coarse texture to the painted surface, visible through the thinly applied colour areas. The figure is painted with warm, golden flesh tones that glow against the rich blue-green background. The bold contour defining the figure's silhouette is one of the clearest examples of Gauguin's cloisonné technique in his Tahitian work.