The painting “The spirit of the dead is not slumbering” or “The spirit of the dead is awake” appeared thanks to the everyday history, which Gauguin, due to his imagination and creative talent, gave a mystical form and hastened to put on forms and colors.
Once the artist stayed in darkness in the capital of French Polynesia, the city of Papeete. His young wife Tehura was waiting for him at home. In this case, the Tahitians were taken not to put out the light for the night – the oil lamp always burned fire, hallowing the room. Thus, the islanders defended themselves against demons that come in the dark, and especially from tupapau, ghosts.
But dozher Tehura did not notice how the oil in the fixture ended, and the room plunged into pitch darkness. Returning home, Gauguin loudly struck a match, which incredibly frightened the girl. In the face of Gauguin, Tehura saw a ghost.
This story reminded the artist of the main nightly fears of the simple Tahitians, and a new plot for the picture was ripe in my head.
The canvas depicts a naked woman lying on the bed, squeezed and tense. At the feet of the sprawled bed, Gauguin depicted the tupapau. What does this demon look like? The islanders, who do not have any cultural experience, imagined the demon sketch schematically, according to their life views. Tupapau is a dead old woman, dressed in all black, sinister and dry.
The desire for decorativeness resulted in the “coloring” of the sinister mood with vivid patterns. In the air you can see wandering lights – a sign that at night ghosts are constantly watching us.
The artist liked this painting very much, as evidenced by the self-portrait of 1893, in which Gauguin portrayed himself against the background of this particular work.
Initially, the artist dedicated this work to Tahitian beliefs, and it is not surprising that the first name of the picture is Tahitian. “Manao tupapau”, which in translation means “Faith or Thought and Reduction” – this is how Gauguin called his work. At the same time, the artist explained that the story could be treated differently according to the name: either Tekhura thinks about Tupapau, or Tupapau thinks about Tehura.
Today, the mystical canvas is in New York, at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
(2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)