The Paul Gauguin Interpretation Centre (French : ''Centre d'Interprétation Paul Gauguin'' and former Gauguin Museum) is located at

Le Carbet Le Carbet (, ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Kabé) is a village and commune in the French overseas department of Martinique. Population See also *Communes of Martinique The following is a list of the 34 communes of the Martinique overseas ...

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

and is dedicated to famous French painter

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

's stay on the island in 1887.

History

The Paul Gauguin Interpretation Centre, formerly known as the Centre d'Art Musée Paul Gauguin, was originally a museum.
In 1969, museum organizers created the "Association for the Creation of a Museum Paul Gauguin" to celebrate the trip of the famous painter to Martinique.
In 1973 the association acquired a piece of land at Anse Turin in Le Carbet and became the Centre d'Art Musée Paul Gauguin. At the time, Maïotte Dauphite became the president of the association and since then she has dedicated her life to the museum. The museum displayed reproductions of Gauguin's Martinican paintings and reproductions of Tahitian paintings interpreted by a painter, Scopas. The museum also displayed a genealogy of Gauguin, reproductions of his letters to his wife and friends, copies of sketches, lithograph prints representing Martinique in the 19th century, and ceramics from Saint-Pierre before the 1902

Mont Pelée Mont may refer to: Places * Mont., an abbreviation for Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to ...

eruption.
In 2011 the "Communauté des Communes du Nord de la Martinique" decide to temporarily close the museum for upgrades. At this point the museum became an interpretative centre with a new director should reopen in 2015/2016.

Collections

The artist

spent approximately 6 months on the island of

in 1887. Gauguin said he painted a dozen paintings during his stay, four of which ″with figures far superior to isPont-Aven period″. The center's goal is to educate visitors on the life and times of Paul Gauguin, his stay on the island and Martinican heritage of 19th century.
The Center is located at

, close to where Gauguin lived during his stay on the island. The renovated facility has four pavilions surrounding a central courtyard. The facility has multimedia and interactive displays for visitors to learn about Gauguin and Martinican heritage from the 19th and early 20th century. The courtyard is a walking route where visitors can see the exotic fruit trees in the background of Gauguin's paintings.
The Center also provides information about other Europeans on the island during Gauguin's stay, mainly the artist

Charles Laval Charles Laval (17 March 1862 – 27 April 1894) was a French painter associated with the Synthetic movement and Pont-Aven School. Laval was born in Paris, and was a contemporary and friend of Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. Gauguin crea ...

Ronald Pickvance, ''Van Gogh in Arles'' (exhibition catalogue), The Metropolitan Museum of Arts, 1984 and the writer

Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...

. The Interpretation Center Paul Gauguin also supports modern Caribbean artists as it has dedicated space to display their work.

Martinique works

File:Tropical Vegetation.jpg, ''Tropical Vegetation,'' 1887,

Scottish National Gallery The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...

File:Gauguin Huttes sous les arbres.jpg, ''Huttes sous les arbres,'' 1887,

Private collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

, Washington File:Paul Gauguin 089.jpg, ''Bord de Mer II,'' 1887, Private collection, Paris File:At The Pond.jpg, ''At the Pond,'' 1887,

Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...

, Amsterdam File:Gauguin Conversation Tropiques.jpg, ''Conversation Tropiques (Négresses Causant)'', 1887, Private collection, Dallas File:Paul Gauguin 087.jpg, ''Among the Mangoes (La Cueillette des Fruits)'', 1887,

, Amsterdam

References

{{Paul Gauguin Buildings and structures in Martinique Gauguin, Paul Paul Gauguin Martinican culture