Paul Gauguin (Tahiti): Painting Parodies
How to Create a Painting Parody
Ever since I published my first painting parody Hub, readers have been asking me how I created the parodies. Without providing detailed instructions, here’s what I did.
- Opened up an image of a painting in Adobe Photoshop, a software tool used for digital image creation.
- Used the eraser tool to erase the facial features of one of the characters in the painting.
- Opened up a file containing a head shot of one of my fellow HubPages writers.
- Sized the image so that it would be close in shape to that of the erased area.
- Dragged a copy of the resized photo of the writer onto the image of the painting.
- Changed the order of the layers and placed the writer’s photo underneath the painting with the facial features erased.
- The face of the HubPages author then appeared in the opening I had created.
Parodies of Paul Gauguin’s Tahiti Paintings
My newest parodies are of paintings from Paul Gauguin’s Tahiti period. Gauguin lived in Tahiti in French Polynesia for four years within the 10-year period from 1891 to 1901.
I spent a month in Tahiti several years ago, and I visited the Gauguin Museum in Papeete. What surprised me the most about the museum is that all of the Paul Gauguin paintings hanging there are reproductions.
Paul Gauguin's "Woman with a Flower" was painted in 1891. The model for the parody is HubPages author Julie Hogg (jools99).
Paul Gauguin’s Timeline
Paul Gauguin was born in Paris, France on June 7, 1848 to a French father and a half-Peruvian mother. He died of syphillis on May 8, 1903 in Atuona, Hiva ‘Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. The following chart contains a summary of the major events in Gauguin’s life.
Date
| Event
|
|---|---|
1848
| Paul Gauguin was born in Paris, France.
|
1849
| Gauguin's family sails for Lima, Peru. His father dies on the voyage.
|
1855
| Gauguin's family returns to France.
|
1865
| Gauguin joins the merchant navy.
|
1868 - 1871
| Gauguin serves in the French navy.
|
1871
| Gustave Arosa found work for Gauguin with a Parisian banker.
|
1873 (summer)
| Arosa's painter daughter Marguerite gives painting lessons to Gauguin.
|
1873 (November)
| Gauguin marries Mette Sophie Gad, a Danish woman.
|
1879 - 1882
| Gauguin exhibits his paintings with other Impressionist artists.
|
1883
| Gauguin gives up his banker job to devote himself to painting.
|
1884
| Gauguin moves with his family to Rouen, France.
|
1885 (early)
| Gauguin moves with his wife and family to Copenhagen, Denmark.
|
1885 (June)
| Gauguin moves to Paris with one of his sons.
|
1886
| Gauguin puts his son in a boarding school, and exhibits his paintings with other Impressionists.
|
1887
| Wanting to live like a vagabond, Gauguin sailed to Panama. He became ill in Martinique, and worked his passage back to Marseilles, France,
|
1891
| Gauguin has a relationship with a woman who bears him a daughter.
|
1891 (March)
| Gauguin travels to Copenhagen to say goodbye to hia family.
|
1891 (April)
| Gauguin departs for Tahiti. He arrives in May.
|
1891 (August)
| Coughing up blood, Gauguin was hospitalized.
|
1892
| Gauguin began compiling a book about Tahitian folklore. He also began lving with a 13-year-old girl.
|
1893 (August)
| Gauguin returned to France and began writing an idealized account about primitive life in Tahiti. He lived with a woman from Java. (Gauguin's and most of his legitimate children were still living in Copenhagen.)
|
1895
| Suffering from syphillis, Gauguin returned to Tahiti. A 14-year-old girl began living with him.
|
1897
| Ill and depressed, Gauguin contemplates suicide.
|
1898 (January)
| Gauguin takes arsenic, but fails to kill himself.
|
1901
| Gauguin moves to the Marquesas Islands, 750 miles from Tahiti. A 14-year-old girl moves in with him.
|
1902
| Gauguin incites the local population against the colonial goverment.
|
1903
| Accused by authorities of libel and stirring up anarchy, Gauguin is sentenced to three months in prison.
|
1903 (May)
| Gauguin dies of syphillis at the age of 55 before his prison sentence can be carried out. He is buried in the Marquesas Islands.
|
Tahitian Women on the Beach (Femmes de Tahiti, ou Sur la plage)
Paul Gauguin painted Tahitian Women on the Beach in 1891. The model for the parody is Hub Pages author Dana Strang (danateresa).
Not to Work (Eiaha ohipa)
Paul Gauguin painted "Not to Work" in 1896. The model for the parody is HubPages author Art Marvin (rasta1).
