Gauguin in Aotearoa, 2019

In August 1895, Paul Gauguin anchored in Auckland for a ten-day stopover en route to French Polynesia. That brief encounter, particularly his visit to the museum and its Māori collections, left a profound trace.

Gauguin in Aotearoa (2019) by Heimler & Proc takes inspiration from Gauguin’s Polynesian artworks and life. Across eight paintings, the artists imagine how Gauguin might have painted in the 21st century.

The project stages a double conversation: with the Gauguin of yesterday, who absorbed museum artefacts into his evolving visual language, and with a contemporary Aotearoa defined by multiculturalism, inclusivity and tolerance.

Retaining Gauguin’s enduring motifs — vivid colour, lush vegetation and the wahine — Heimler & Proc re-situate them. Through female figures rendered with exuberant brushwork, they propose a renewed gaze: pōhutukawa trees, wind, cliffs and customary patterns frame protagonists of diverse origins, magnifying Gauguin’s exuberance while inviting reflection on how his vision might resonate today.