French impressionist painter Paul Gauguin was born on 7 June 1848 in Paris. Descended from a noble Peruvian family, he grew up there until he was seven before returning to France. He began painting as a hobby in 1873 and developed a relationship with the artist Pissarro, who introduced him to other artists, particularly the Impressionists. His paintings were shown in exhibitions between 1881 and 1882. He married and moved to Denmark in 1882, where the aim was to earn money by working as a tarpaulin salesman. However, the business did not work out and his wife had to become the family breadwinner. He separated from his family and his wife in 1885, and returned to France to paint full time. He moved to Martinique in 1887 with his friend, the artist Charles Laval. In Martinique, he created many works, generally estimated to number between 10 and 20.

He eventually became disillusioned with impressionism and traditional European painting, and became fascinated with the arts of Africa and Asia. At the time, in Europe, the art of different cultures was popular and he was even invited to an exhibition in 1889.

His style evolved into the Cloisonnist style after being influenced by folk and Japanese art and he created his most famous piece "The Yellow Christ" in 1889.

In order to free himself from European social norms, he moved in 1891 to Tahiti, Africa, where he hoped to discover his own creative freedom. There he created Arearea, La Orana Maria and Aha Oe Feii, as well as other paintings representing Tahitian life.

The artist returned to France in 1893 and painted "Jour de Dieu" in 1894, in which he portrayed the Tahitian religion. He settled in Punaauia in 1897, and painted "Where do we come from? What do we have in common? Where are we going? With a heart condition, he died on 8 May 1903 on the Marquesas Islands in total destitution.