 Paul Gauguin was thirty-five when he made the momentous decision to abandon his lucrative career as a Paris stockbroker and devote himself full-time to painting. Gauguin s bold use of flat, unmixed color gave his paintings a strong sense of personal expression, but his work struggled to find acceptance at the time. Poverty and obscurity dominated Gauguin s years as an artist. Not even a move to Tahiti could bring him happiness. Yet the paintings that he created there are now recognized as masterpieces of the Post-Impressionist age.