‘The Polynesians loved him’: the astonishing revelations that cast Paul Gauguin in a new light

He has been tarred as a French colonialist who spread syphilis to underage girls in the South Seas. But, writes the author of an acclaimed new book, fresh discoveries challenge this view of the artist – and even show him as a hero

In 2019, the National Gallery held an exhibition of Paul Gauguin’s portraits that provoked uproar. Was Gauguin not a French colonialist who spread syphilis to underage girls throughout the islands of the South Seas? The London show was caught in the crosshairs of cancel culture and there were calls for his paintings to be burned.

I have always loved Gauguin’s pictures. Having just written I Am Dynamite!, a biography of controversial philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and feeling a strong sympathy with #MeToo, I couldn’t live in the dishonest and hypocritical position of loving the paintings and hating the man. I embarked on research.