This book portrays the complexities of Gauguin's last days. It does not shy away from his flaws while offering us glimpses of the artistic genius that make his paintings so coveted and appreciated today.

Note: I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.

Graphic novels can be a very good way to convey a real life story. One of the best examples is Maus by Art Spiegelman, another good one is Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I'm always drawn to these types of works, so when I saw one about the painter Paul Gauguin I couldn't resist.

This work is about the last few years of Gauguin's life, when he moved to Atuona on the island of Hiva-Oa in the Marquesas Islands. It describes his last years, from his arrival on the island to his death, but also the visit to the island by Victor Segalen, when he is trying to piece together the life Gauguin led, between the auction of his possessions on Hiva-Oa and the auction of his work in Papeete. The story is told mostly through imagery, with some dialogue between the famous characters, all famous in their association with Gauguin. It flips between the story of Gauguin and Segalen.

Besides that he is a famous French painter who liked to paint Tahitian nudes, I know next to nothing about Gauguin, his life, his activism (a big part in this book), his work and his death. Because of that (I think) this book didn't really teach me about Gauguin's final days. I found it a very confusing mess, and I couldn't retell the story if I wanted to. I think this is a nice book if you already know quite a bit about Gauguin, to illustrate what you know. To learn about him, this isn't the right work. For me, this was three out of five stars.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. This beautifully illustrated and well written book is worth your time especially if you are a fan of Gauguin.

If you are looking for the definite biography of this fascinating artist then this is not it. However, it is a clever little snapshot of a particular part of his life which is told in graphic novel style. The illustrated comic book panels are colourful and descriptive and at times you feel you are reading a book version of a clever little animation film. Some people may be put off by the nature of the time shifting aspect of the tale, from after the death of the artist to before his death, which occurs frequently throughout the book. If you are a fan of Gaugin, a fan of graphic novels, or just want to know a little about the artist then you will enjoy this clever illustrated novel.

The foreword tells you that this isn’t about the artist as much as about the guy who was his generation’s version of a hippie, though by this time in his life he’d become more cynical.
The graphic novel starts with paintings being sold at auction for what seem to be really low prices, though back then it could have been a lot. They’re won by a smug-looking accountant type, and then we go back two years to the sight of Gaugin sleeping on a ship with roaches crawling all over him. Lovely. From there the story switches between his arrival on the small island and the previous guy showing up after his death.
Some of the friends he makes are interesting. It’s fun to see him interacting with people from Vietnam, India, and of course the locals, though they’re all different too.
“You’ve lost your mind!” “And you never had one to begin with!”
“You must—” “When I hear ‘you must,’ I rebel!”
There some slight x-rating to a couple of panels, but the artwork is done in such a non-realistic style—even looks like Gaugin painted it—that’s it’s hardly noticeable and pretty much inoffensive. . . which kinda sums up this book. It paints a different side of the artist who’s only famous for these paintings, who is not in the consciousness of most like Picasso or such. It’s interesting, but not more than that.

Gauguin Off the Beaten Track was a mixed bag for me. To begin with the positive, I quite liked the artwork by Christopher Gaultier, which I thought meshed nicely with the subject matter thanks to its thick lines and coloration, as well as the depiction of the people. On the downside, I found the narrative/text too disjointed for me. Shifts in time were a bit abrupt as the story moves back and forth between the artist’s last years and shortly after his death. I wasn’t sure what the structure added to the telling was worth the dislocation/distraction. I also would have liked to have remained in certain scenes/moments/time periods for a bit longer to let things develop or to get a stronger sense of the person at that time. As it is, Gauguin’s actions seem random happenstance, removed from a sense of larger context, whether personally, socially, or politically. That said, the random nature probably does convey a sense of his mercurial nature. And by skipping around so much, the writer is able to display multiple facets of the artist’s personality in the “I contain multitudes” sense. And so we see him act cruelly toward one of the woman in his life, but generously toward another native. We see him focused on his work, but also drinking and partying heavily. Finally, since most will come to Gauguin as an artist, I should note this isn’t really an artist’s biography so much as a biography of an artist. What I mean by that is there is no focus on his art—its style, its important, its distinctiveness. We see him painting, but that’s it. Instead, and purposely as the introduction makes clear, we get Gauguin the man and Gauguin the angry iconoclast—anti-religion, anti-marriage, anti-colonialism/imperialism, etc. I can’t say I learned much about the artist save in broad strokes, so I lean toward disappointed, but it may be enough to pique someone’s interest to find out more.

An excellent work but not perfect. How could anything capture the remarkable achievement of Gauguin? It can but point to the genius and this does. I highly recommend this book.

What is missing is that Gauguin had a family to feed. He was not a lost mystic enamoured by what was an overwhelming impulse to paint. He made a reasonable assumption he could make a living at painting. It was a marriage of calculation, vision and talent that bore strange and world changing art. It was a genius that still stuns and inspires today. This graphic novel is a great introduction to his genius and achievement.

'Gauguin: Off the Beaten Track' by Maximilien Le Roy with art by Christophe Gaultier is about the painter's final years in French Polynesia.

The story follows Victor Segalen as he looks into the life of Gauguin after his death. It seems the painter was very outspoken against the colonial government and it's oppression of the people. He was also a pretty intense drinker and womanizer. He had problems with his legs and eventually took to using a cane and calling himself Koke (for a reason that is never explained). He had generous sides and cruel sides.

I'm not sure what the point of the narrative is. It's not a complete life, and the part is shows leaves me wondering if there is some conclusion I'm supposed to draw. Perhaps it's that Gauguin was a human, just like the rest of us. The real winner here is the art, which seems to be done in an homage style to Gauguin. The lines are thick and heavy, but I liked what the artist did.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

"Citizen Gauguin"

Paul Gauguin gets the "Citizen Kane" treatment in this graphic bio, and I found it quite entertaining. A French traveler interested in Gauguin and his art arrives in French Polynesia a few months after Gauguin's death and wanders around talking to and interviewing Gauguin's friends, lovers, admirers, and neighbors. As a consequence you get a set of snapshots framed by memories, anecdotes, stories, and so on from a wide variety of witnesses.

This approach gives you an episodic and varied sense of Gauguin's last days, and because the reminiscences are filtered through so many different characters the Gauguin who emerges is much more three dimensional and interesting than I expected. (If you want to know an artist, interview his bartender.) That said, if you are a student of Gauguin this is all probably very much old news and been-there-done-that. If, though, you know only a little bit about Gauguin and his work, (he was a grumpy, difficult, heavy drinking, womanizing artist in the iconoclastic genius mold), then this bio will round out that view nicely.

This is all well complemented by the contributions of Gaultier, the book's artist. His broad lines, rough renderings, and color choices echo Gauguin's style and eye, which adds weight and depth to the bio.

So, this struck me as an admirable, well conceived, and sharply executed story of Gauguin's last days. A nice, and as it turns out, off the beaten track biographical tale.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

This is an interesting study of the end of Gaugin, as seen after his death, trying to piece together what happened to him in Tahiti. It is told in flashbacks, and in the present time, as in 1903 present time, shortly after he death.

The story studies Gauguin, as he fights against the colonist powers, which were French, and berates them for doing harm to the indigenous population, on one hand, and on the other hand, with him sleeping with as many women and drinking as much as he can. It sends mixed messages, but perhaps that is the whole point. Is he a hero, for trying to help the Tahitian people, or a villain, for taking advantage of them.

There is no answer, in the end, perhaps that is not the point.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-418" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-04-22-at-5.14.07-PM.png" alt="Gauguin">

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I would say I liked this, but 'like' doesn't seem the right word.... I appreciated it.
The artwork certainly fits the story and the way Gauguin's last years are told... It's not sugar coating anything, and it doesn't overly demonise him like some other tellings (don't get me wrong, he probably wasnt a nice man, and had questionable morals....). It's the sad decline of an amazing artist.
A must-read for anyone who is faintly interested in art.

Not quite my type of graphic novel, but it had some high points.

A commendable piece, considering I've had some stinkers from this publishing house when it comes to artistic biographies. This is Gauguin on his last patch of exotic land, renouncing French colonial education and policing, religious indoctrination of all kinds, and the people he saw as giving disease to the natives of the Pacific islanders and taking all the soul out of the place – if not out of everywhere else as well. I don't know the truth of the biography enough to judge the veracity of it, but it makes for an entertaining snapshot of a man howling into the storm, kicking against a whole society of pricks – and getting his end away in a free and easy situation partly of his own, libertarian making. The art may not be on a par with Gauguin's own, but it's actually perfectly fine for the subject matter. I can't see anyone associated with his side of the story turning in their graves, and I can't find anything objectionable about this telling of his last few years. Informative and educational, this book should certainly be considered.

Unfortunately, though I loved the artwork on the cover, the artwork inside was confusing; faces were not consistent and the story jumped around a lot. I read about a third of it before giving up sadly.

I quite enjoyed this graphic novel about artist Paul Gauguin, and the details that surrounded his move to Tahiti in search of inspiration. The illustrations were colorful, and fitting to the culture and time period.

I have received a much appreciated digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is about Paul Gauguin who doesn't like his life in France anymore and not inspired for his work either. So, he goes to Tahiti for a change and later decides to settle down. He meets the different culture of Tahiti, meets different people, immerses himself in the adventures of his new life.
I thought the illustrations were authentic and interesting. I certainly enjoyed Gauguin's Tahiti immersion. There were different characters too. While settling down for this really different country, He also starts to produce his best pieces.
All in all, it was a rich graphic novel with interesting characters and events that I enjoyed reading about. I would recommend it.