Doing things in a new way, in a new environment, with new people was really a challenge, The wind blowing over my easel and sun drying my colors almost instantly and burning my skin to a crisp is something I rarely deal with. Nature is a wonderful teacher. It's also true that they only experience what they are prepared to experience. Gauguin traveled and carried his own personal view of art wherever he went. He freed us from all restraints which the idea of copying naturally placed on our painter's instincts.
All artists are now free to express their own personality.
Gauguin is a central character in the progress of art. The reason I am great is because of all the suffering I have done. He was desperately poor, estranged from his family, suicidal, bereaved of his daughter, and forced to use sub-standard materials. The reason he traveled to the Pacific Islands was because he thought it would be cheap. The restlessness of Paul Gauguin and his perpetual moving on was as much a function of escaping his family responsibilities as the desire for new subject matter.