Noa Noa: The Tahitian Journal

In 1894, Paul Gauguin came to the conclusion that European culture in general, and French culture in particular, was spiritually and morally bankrupt. So he left. On the eighth of June 1894 he arrived in Tahiti, an island of tropical warmth, impenetrable jungles, and--most importantly for Gauguin--unspoiled, undecadent, un-European, and extremely beautiful people.He luxuriated in this paradise for two years, producing some of this best and best-known paintings. But Gauguin left us another masterpiece that has languished in obscurity until now: his journal and the woodblocks he made to accompany it.