In Which If I Become Cheap Will You Respect Me

The Week in Review

It's been a hot week. Temperatures seem to be rising everywhere. On the train I saw two dudes look at each other sweating and remove their shirts. It was a special moment of craziness, and I didn't forget it one ride on the 6 train later. If there is one thing I'm tempted to do in this heat it's pack up and go someplace better. That's not the advice Paul Gauguin took:

By 1890, Gauguin's career was in crisis: Matte had forced him from the family home, his paintings were out of favour and he had been dropped by the city's best art dealers. 'By the end of the year, Gauguin was like a cornered dog,' said Mathews. 'He was harrying friends for cash and desperately proposing one new money-making scheme after another.'

Eventually, in 1891, he hit on the idea of travelling to Tahiti to paint illustrations for the most popular novel of the day, Pierre Loti's The Marriage of Loti . He held a banquet for the cream of the literary and artistic world and explained how the primitive, erotic living conditions on Tahiti would revive his muse.

'He portrayed the natives as living only to sing and to make love,' said Mathews. That's how he got the money from his friends and raised the public's interest in his adventure. But, of course, he knew the truth, which was that Tahiti was an unremarkable island with an international, Westernised community.'

'I stand at the edge of the abyss, yet I do not fall in,' Gauguin wrote to a friend on the eve of his departure.

Tahiti was more sexually liberated than turn-of-the-century Paris and there is no doubt that Gauguin revelled in the opportunities it offered, but his time there was not nearly as extreme as he claimed. Unfazed, Gauguin transformed his prosaic experiences into titillating erotic adventures.

'The island [and the realities of Gauguin's life there] are virtually unrecognisable in his representations, carefully calculated to intrigue the French audience,' said Mathews.

After two years, Gauguin returned to France, expecting a hero's welcome. But what should have been a triumphant return turned into a morass of misunderstanding and disappointment as his paintings remained unsold.

In a final attempt to spark the public's interest, Gauguin wrote Noa Noa, his autobiographical account of his life in Tahiti. 'Writing the book was the beginning of Gauguin's writing of an erotic life for himself,' said Mathews. 'He created a life for public consumption as part of his campaign to make his exhibitions - and therefore his future - a success.

Gauguin's efforts failed, however, and less than a year later, he was making plans to return to Tahiti. 'Gauguin seems to have fallen for the myth of Tahiti he created,' said Mathews. 'He returned expecting the erotic idyll that was only ever a figment of his imagination. Of course, he didn't find it and the disappointment was profound: he died a twisted and bitter man, having alienated everyone both at home and in Tahiti. It's a sad story of a man who believed his own fiction.'

Now you know what not to do. Go forward. Multiply.

• Belle and Sebastian were appreciated as the cultural titans they are.
• Joan Didion wondered what Eleanor Morrow's deal was.
• This was the first time we really felt like Liz Lemon.

• Julian Schulman expanded our reach into architectural photography.
• Alex covered True Blood as it rolls on through its second season.
• Yvonne was with the cockroaches.

• Wes Anderson told us all about his favorite songs.
• This is how Georgia O'Keeffe lived her life.
• Eleanor Morrow brought Larry Sanders back to life.

• Molly finally got around to joining Woody Allen Week.
• Hermione and Harry Potter done set us up the bomb.
• The moon grew larger in our telling of it.

You can find the This Recording tumblr here and the This Recording twitter here.

"Power Trip Again" - Atlas Sound (mp3) highly recommended

"So Many Bodies" - Atlas Sound (mp3)

"Recent Bedrooms Again" - Atlas Sound (mp3)

It feels like an important time in the world right now. Did you enjoy these posts?