Noa Noa

<p><em>Noa Noa</em> is one of the best examples of a nineteenth-century artist's book. Part-travelogue part-autobiography and rich in imagery it sealed Gauguin's reputation as a painter of the tropics. This edition brings the original co-authored text of <em>Noa Noa</em> to the public allowing a new interpretation of Gauguin to emerge. Written together with the poet Charles Morice it sets up a dichotomy between the 'savage painter' and the 'civilised poet' one which reveals the painter's careful orchestration of his persona and manipulation of its reception. Claire Moran's introduction situates the text within Gauguin's aesthetic detailing its complex history and signalling its themes. <em>Noa Noa</em> is followed by a first print edition of the <em>Manuscrit tiré du 'Livre des métiers' de Vehbi-Zumbul Zadi </em>an artistic treatise penned by Gauguin. Through both texts<em> </em>Gauguin emerges as an extraordinary teller of tales a painter for whom the truth was never black and white.</p><p>Text in French with introduction and critical apparatus in English.</p>