Paul Gauguin - Self Portrait 1896

Self Portrait 1896
Self Portrait
1896 40x32cm oil/canvas
Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

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When Gauguin returned to Paris on 1 September 1893, after his first stay in Polynesia, he decided to present his Tahitian works and to justify his "savage" painting. His efforts were not entirely successful: in November he offered a painting (La Orana Maria, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art) to the Musée du Luxembourg, but it was refused. An exhibition of his greatest Tahitian masterpieces was not as successful as he would have wished. A few painters and critics like Degas, Jarry and Natanson supported him, but the majority of artists were very non-committal.