Paul Gauguin - Where do we come from ? What are we ? Where are we going ? [1897]

Paul Gauguin,

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?,

D'où venons-nous ? Que sommes-nous ? Où allons-nous ?

Woher kommen wir ? Wer sind wir ? Wohin gehen wir ?

Da dove veniamo? Chi siamo? Dove andiamo?

painting, 1897

Boston MFA

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1. The sleeping child symbolises the human soul before its earthly incarnation. Gauguin was a mystic who was fascinated by theosophy and believed that the souls of human beings dwell in heaven in childlike bliss before descending into the material world.

2. The dog is a symbol of the hardships that await man on earth.

3. The two women (and one man) symbolise the first stage of the human soul in the physical shell before it discovers in it the desire for self-knowledge. "These women are not entangled in self-discovery, not plagued by doubts, but thoughtlessly give themselves over to the happiness of material existence."

4. A man picking fruit from the tree of good and evil is a symbol of the awakening of the human quest to understand the mysteries of the universe.

As a theosophist, Gauguin believed that the urge to explore the mysteries of the universe is inherent in man. But in some it is awakened, in others it is not.

5. The seated figure to the right with his hand on his head embodies the second stage of development of the human soul, which despairs because it cannot find answers to the "damned questions" of existence.

6. Two figures in red. "In Gauguin's painting," says Marina Prokofieva, "they represent the third stage of the soul's development, when one acquires the ability to analyse. They are two wise men sharing their thoughts.

 

 

 

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