Editing Paul Gauguin (section)

=== Martinique ===
[[File:Tropical Vegetation.jpg|thumb|''Martinique Landscape'' 1887, [[Scottish National Gallery]]]]
Later that same year, Gauguin and Laval spent the time from June to November near [[Saint-Pierre, Martinique|Saint Pierre]] on the Caribbean island of [[Martinique]], a French colony. His thoughts and experiences during this time are recorded in his letters to his wife and his artist friend Emile Schuffenecker.<ref>"Gauguin and Martinique," Karen Kristine Reichnitzer Pope, 1981.</ref> At the time, France had a policy of [[right of return|repatriation]] where if a citizen became broke or stranded on a French colony, the state would pay for the boat ride back. Upon leaving Panama, protected by the repatriation policy, Gauguin and Laval decided to disembark at the Martinique port of St. Pierre. Scholars disagree on whether Gauguin intentionally or spontaneously decided to stay on the island.

At first, the 'negro hut' in which they lived suited him, and he enjoyed watching people in their daily activities.<ref>Philip Vickers, "Martinique in Gauguin's Footsteps", ''Contemporary Review'', 1 June 1997.</ref> However, the weather in the summer was hot and the hut leaked in the rain. Gauguin also suffered [[dysentery]] and [[marsh fever]]. While in Martinique, he produced between 10 and 20 works (12 being the most common estimate), traveled widely and apparently came into contact with a small community of [[Hinduism in Martinique|Indian]] immigrants; a contact that would later influence his art through the incorporation of Indian symbols. During his stay, the writer [[Lafcadio Hearn]] was also on the island.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/twoyearsinfrench00hearrich|title=Two years in the French West Indies|first=Lafcadio|last=Hearn|date=25 February 1890|publisher=New York, Harper & brothers|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> His account provides an historical comparison to accompany Gauguin's images.

Gauguin finished 11 known paintings during his stay in Martinique, many of which seem to be derived from his hut. His letters to Schuffenecker express an excitement about the exotic location and natives represented in his paintings. Gauguin asserted that four of his paintings on the island were better than the rest.<ref>Paul Gauguin, "Letters to his Wife and Friends", 1946.</ref> The works as a whole are brightly coloured, loosely painted, outdoor figural scenes. Even though his time on the island was short, it surely was influential. He recycled some of his figures and sketches in later paintings, such as the motif in ''Among the Mangoes'',<ref name="vangoghmuseum">{{cite web|url=http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/s0221V1962|title=De mangobomen, Martinique}}</ref> which is replicated on his fans. Rural and indigenous populations remained a popular subject in Gauguin's work after he left the island.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class="center">
File:Gauguin Huttes sous les arbres.jpg|''Huttes sous les arbres,'' 1887, [[Private collection]], 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]], 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, [[Van Gogh Museum]], Amsterdam<ref name="vangoghmuseum" />
</gallery>