New-York tribune., 1922-06-04
By Royal Cortissoz

In the book about Paul Gauruin pub
lished by his fr.eai Charles Moriee in
1919. the best literary memorial 20 the
artist which exists. there IS n section
entitled "Le Mai,r, DO Tahiti To-day
there are many 20 whom GauTuin IS "the
master" on tho other hand, Mr. sar-
gen. once had occasion TO say Of certain
Of IN. pictures painted b. this Franco
Peruvian that they struck him as 'at-
mirabl. in color. and in color only II
the matter IS still In debate n IS FOR o
rather Fictitious reason Would Gau-
euin remain che master" II he had
STAYED At home' We doubt b.. Half
the furorc raised about him is fraeeabls
70 MS seques,ra'ion IN 'hc South Seas.
His death there made him the hero Of
legend. 4 new contribution has been
msdc 70 this in the share OF The Let
t.rs Of Paul GauEsin." published b.
Dodd. Mead { Co.. with q forcvora by
Fredcr'ck O'Br'en. a leading figure IN
The Tsh.;isn cult. Here arc gathered
together the miss.vcr Of the artist %
his friend Daniel Monfreid. who did
what r, could 20 keep him going IN bic
self-sough, exile. They give US further
revelations Of the lie and character o.
the man. incidentally. they help lii
tie 20 clarity The subject of his arr.
Gauguin vas born n, Paris in isis.
was taken 20 Peru and brought back 20
France while still child. received some
education in a Jesui, seminary. served
briefly in the navy as common sailor
and in 1871 left the sca 20 turn stock
broker, He was successful in finance.
Miss Ruth Pielkovo, me translator o.
the present correspondence and 'he an-
thor, presumably, Of tho commentary
that accompanies -. remarks that dur
ing his activities In the Rae Latte he
made something like thirty or forty
thousand francs a year. Then. with o.
sudGenncss Of which Mr. Somerset
Vaughan made the most when hc wrote
The Moon and Sypcnoc." hc began 90
paint. shook of his wife and children
and dedicated himself entirely 20 tho
brush. There was q time, IN the SOS,
when he settled in Brittany and rro-
duced. with some talent, fairly uncon-
vcntional pictures. Later came a flying
trip to Martinique. on his return TO
hi. native land he had some associa-
tions with Van Gogh. In 1891 he went
70 Tahiti and thencefor,h, save for
visi, home. continued in his remote fast
ness until he died in the Marqucsas
in 1903.
In the South Seas, his disciples
would have Us believe, he found the
secret of new heaven and new
earth. What was 81, he himself as
was natural enough. never formulated
H. You know" he once wrote 70 a
friend. that though others have hon
ored me by attrbutine a system 10 me-
have never had one. and could no; con-
denim myself 10 IL II had. To paint
as please. bright to-day. dark to-mor-
row. The artist must he free or he is
not an artist But you have a tech
nioue. they say. No; have not or
rather have one. but il is vagabond
sor, or thing. End very elastic. II is
technique that changes constantly. ac-
cording 70 thc mood am in. and use
il 10 express ny thought. without both
ering a. 20 whether II truthfuily eX-
presses exterior nature" II is permis-
siblc-for tho acolytcs read into
this the magnificent independence Of a
great creative artist. We would read
IL there ourselves. probably. f the
works authorized US 20 DO 50. But IN
the ligh, Of what they have 70 sag we
are inclined 10 infer from tho pro.
nouneement aforesaid nothing more
nor les. than tho wayward egotism Of
an artist who never quite mastered his
medium or his instruments. As We
pointed out a. the time Of the cele-
brated Armory Show, nearly ten years
ago. when Gauguin was one Of the
new" men brought to the fore the
only pertinent question 70 be asked re-
garding him is, Does he know how TO
pnint,'
What he didn'. like is easily seen. In
one Of his letters he alludes 20 "Bau-
dry and his crowd" There is feer IN
another at Bougureau. he is blight
ing on the subject Of "the Seminary Of
Meissonier and his like" Study Of
Baudry. We may note in passing would
hav. done him good. but one can sym
pa,hiz. with his repulsion from Bou-
guereau and Meissonier. Nc had, no
doubt. the roo, Of the matter in HIM
In letter Of his Partisan visit in 1898
there is a passage eloquent Of an artist
sensitive to the true distinctions Of the
schools. I'm just back from a six
days trip in Belgium" he says III