Wild Thing: A Life Of Paul Gauguin

By Michael Hooper

Wild Thing, A Life of Paul Gauguin, by Sue Prideaux, is an authentic biography of Post-Impressionist painter, Paul Gauguin. 

It’s a scholarly work of the French artist, but also very readable. I read the 364-page book in a week. The book includes 59 images featuring the work of Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. The book covers Gauguin's development as a child in Peru, his youth in France and his work as a merchant marine, stock broker, journalist and artist.

Gustav Arosa, a patron of the arts and collector of realist and impressionist paintings, helped Gauguin get a job as a stock broker at a firm called Bertin in Paris.

Gauguin was living on his own terms for the first time in life and working at the French stock exchange called the Bourse.

He was hired as a liquidateur, the 19th century equivalent of a futures broker gambling on the buying and selling of certain shares at a certain date in the future, author Prideaux wrote. He received a commission on each successful trade and received an annual bonus on his successes, the author wrote.

Gauguin enjoyed the Arosa household, the many beautiful paintings on the walls, and drawing with his daughter Marguerite, who herself would become a fairly successful artist in Spain and France. She took lessons from Camille Pissaro. Gauguin ended up taking a deeper and deeper interest in art during this time. He studied the old masters at the Louvre. He attended serious discussions about the latest advances in art and photography at the Arosa salon.

The book says another influence came from fellow clerk Emile Schuffenecker. Gauguin called him Schuff. Schuff had a passion for art. He had joined Bertin with the sole purpose of making enough money quickly to support himself for the rest of his life as an artist. Schuff dragged the evermore willing Gauguin to see what they were showing in these little art galleries surrounding the Bourse.

For 11 years, Paul was a successful businessman and stock broker who had gained an edge in figuring out the direction of stocks. He was making 30,000 francs per year, the equivalent of $145,000 annually, but he didn’t really save his money. He bought a lot of art and lived well. He and his wife Mette lived in Paris where he painted in the evenings and in his free time. He and his wife have five children over the next 10 years. Meanwhile, his friend Schuck was saving his money and getting ready to leave the brokerage business and become a full-time painter. Gauguin should have followed his example. When the stock market crashed in 1882 Schuck was ready for it, but Gauguin wasn’t. Business and art markets contracted. And that’s about the time that Gauguin decided to became a full-time painter.

When money was in short supply in Paris, Mette looked for another way to raise their children and decided to move back to Denmark. In Copenhagen, she was able to teach French to students and make a small living. She also was a very independent woman who was highly regarded among the intellectuals and artists of the day. Indeed, she had maintained a salon in her apartment, which was full of all of these artworks that her husband had been collecting.

Gauguin tried Copenhagen, but left and returned to Paris to continue to learn and to paint.

In the book, the author does not condemn Gauguin for leaving his wife and children to pursue art, yet I can’t help but feel sympathy for Mette, trying to raise five children. They had a robust sex life in their marriage, but after five children, she refused to have sex with him because she didn’t want any more children.

Yet Mette and Gauguin kept up with letters over the years between each other.

Gauguin fell in with the impressionist painters, with Pissaro as a strong advocate for him.

Woman Sewing, Paul Gauguin

Gauguin’s breakthrough painting was Woman Sewing in 1880. As a painter, I know it is difficult to draw and paint hands and face. In his painting, he draws the hands, face and body as one beautiful person, the skin tones seem real, and I like the mandolin hanging on the wall. His draftsmanship, colors and shading come together in a form of beauty.

His landscape paintings were considered dull and unimpressive at this time, but he was willing to take risks to learn new tricks in the art trade. 

Gauguin met Theo and Vincent van Gogh in Paris. Vincent wrote him several letters asking him to join him in Arles, France.

One detail that came up pretty prominently to me was how messy Vincent was in his house, leaving paint tubes all over the place with their lids off, drying out. Gauguin, knowing paint is expensive, put the lids back on. They painted several subjects together,

Night Cafe, Vincent van Gogh

Night Cafe, Paul Gauguin

The author captures the madness of Vincent van Gogh, and Gauguin’s fear of this madness. Eventually, at the end of his stay there, Vincent goes crazy and cuts off an ear and hands it to a prostitute.

Gauguin is interviewed by authorities over the bloody ear from Vincent. I think Vincent scared him. If Vincent would have died, Gauguin might have been charged with murder, according to the author.

People will pay hundreds of millions of dollars for Vincent van Gogh‘s paintings, but I question whether there is a single buyer of his art that would’ve actually taken the time to talk to the man because he was known as a dirty smelly man with mental health issues. Today if you see a dirty smelly man on the streets, are you going to take the time to talk to him?

Gauguin saw real talent in Vincent. Gauguin was willing to remain friends with him. They wrote letters to each other until van Gogh died.

French Polynesia 

Gauguin’s fascination for French Polynesia increased as he read books by Pierre Loti, the pen name of Julian Viaud. His books told stories about meeting pretty girls at ports in places like Tahiti and Japan.

Gauguin's fascination for Tahiti really took off after he attended the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, featuring the new Eiffel Tower.

Tahiti had been a colony of France for about 10 years by the time Gauguin attended the expo in Paris. There were vast displays of many places that France had colonized around the world in Africa, the far east and Tahiti.

In Tahiti, the idea of raw and wild living appealed to Gauguin. Unfortunately, he found Tahiti to be already losing its traditions due to the importation of Catholic and Christian missionaries and French government appointed leadership.

The author does a good job discussing this paradoxical position in which Gauguin struggled because here he was an import from France and was trying to blend in with the local culture. He studied the language and he got along with the people, the locals were not really interested in his paintings.

He built himself a shack near the ocean and lived out his days, with a woman partner. He struggled with his health issues, sometimes bedridden, but he managed to paint many of the local people in his own strange and fascinating way. He wrote stories about life on the island and advocated for the natives' rights.

He sent his paintings back to Paris for sale. He always looked forward to the boats arriving, hoping he would get some mail with some money, but often there was nothing there for him.

He needed a great deal of medical care and was in a lot of pain. He had wounds on his legs that would not heal. He died in his home from heart failure. He was 54.

In conclusion, I liked spending time with Wild Thing. Gauguin learned from other artists and crafted his own unique style. He changed up colors to create more dynamic paintings. He painted trees purple, and the earth orange. He was a bold swashbuckling painter with a background as a seaman. He could fence, he could use a sword. He attracted a following. Multiple artists lived with him and worked with him. Gauguin was their teacher, their guide.

Paul Gauguin inspires us to take chances, be bold, adventurous and creative. As an artist, try to capture the raw wildness of life.

Cycling Backcountry Roads

By Michael Hooper

This summer I was thrilled to get on my bicycle and ride the backcountry roads in search of new adventures.

I prefer riding on gravel or dirt roads. I love seeing nature all around me. Cycling connects me to the Earth. I feel I'm part of the land as I roll over it. I feel alive with life on the road.

I like riding to nowhere and everywhere. I appreciate lonely places, where you are the only person witnessing gigantic beauty. I welcome the opportunity to ride to a pub or coffee shop.

Traveling to a familiar place might result in a good encounter. Perhaps I will see a friend and indulge in an interesting conversation. The ideas floating around may open us up to new ways at looking at things. You never know who you might meet, perhaps you might make a new friend.

This is why I belong to so many groups: book clubs, nonprofit organizations, and loosely fit clubs, starting with bowling In the early 1990s in Grand Island, Nebraska. 

Book clubs offer an opportunity to deep dive into a book, share ideas and learn from others. Perhaps the greatest value comes from interacting with people who care about the ideas raised in the books.

After I gave up golf in 2013, I went deep into cycling, looking for the best bikes. I wanted a durable off-road bicycle that is also smooth on pavement, with solid engineering for its sprockets, chain and gears, and overall feel. I found that and more in The Surly Ogre. The bike, with 29-inch rims and 2-inch tires, rolls over everything. It's got beautiful balance. It's the best bicycle I’ve ever owned in my lifetime, and I’ve been cycling since 1970 and participated in Ragbrai in Iowa in 1983 with a classic Peugot road bike.

Hooper's Surly Ogre

I’ve ridden the Surly Ogre since 2013 in multiple conditions: gravel, pavement, off-road, rain, mud, mountains and pastures, I felt safe in all those conditions. With the Jones H bar handle bar set up, I sit up fairly high, I love the comfort and ease on my back, hips and knees. 

In 2016, I rode the Surly in the Dirty Kanza (Unbound Gravel) through the Flint Hills around Emporia, Kansas, my bike performed beautifully. I had no flat tires. The chain worked great, although it was quite dirty by the end of 50 miles. The gears were marvelous. At the 25-mile mark, I remember a young man gave me some water. I said how are you doing? He said I’m tapping out. He didn’t want to go up the hill. I put my Ogre into the granny gear and pedaled all the way to the top without stopping, two miles. I surveyed the majestic Flint Hills all around me, what a lovely sight.

Endurance is a valuable skill in long distance running, cycling and for that matter, life. If you have the endurance to finish the race, you are a winner.

In September 2016, Charles Baylor and I rode bicycles from Falmouth, Mass., to Provincetown, stopping along the way to play candlestick bowling. It's more difficult than traditional bowling, the pins are smaller and the balls are smaller. There has never been a 300 game in candlestick bowling. The best game ever is a 245. I shot 77, Charles 66.

After riding all day, we stopped in an Irish pub, where the bartender was from Ireland and the band was also from Ireland. We drank a couple of pints and visited with some interesting people, one man gave me a great stock tip.

The next day, we took the Cape Cod Rail Trail, a 27.5 mile paved path through forests, marshes and towns. When we arrived in Provincetown, Charles found us a great place to stay. Later he stumbled into a basement pub that was a favorite haunt of local Provincetown people, complete with ping pong table. We partied with them. I met one young man who first came to Provincetown with no more than a bicycle and a cell phone. He got a job and a place to stay and created a new life for himself. His story was inspirational.

Charles and I also made a trip to Nantucket, where we stayed with our friend, Kaylee Hesse. We toured the island, we saw billionaires' homes, the golf course, the Colored Cemetery, and the Nantucket Atheneum. Charles visited the Whaling Museum.

Nantucket

In Minnesota, I recently rode my Surly to the Long Pine Bar about 2 miles from our cabin on Ponto Lake. With no traffic on West Ponto Lake Road, I rolled over the pavement feeling free and open to beauty all around me. I saw a warm western sun glimmering through the trees and onto the water of Ponto Lake. When I get to the pub, I see it’s filled with maybe 50 people hanging out on a Saturday afternoon. I sit down at the bar and visit with Randy; we talk about Northern Living, ice fishing, cabins. Catching pan fish and northern Pike. He says pike is good eating if prepared correctly, but I never eat them preferring bass and sunfish.  

I bought Randy another beer and I had a second beer and felt pretty good, a little tipsy, but not too bad. I got back on the bike and rode the highway. With the wind at my back and smooth pavement under my tires, I flew like an eagle. I stopped at the little lending library to check out the books. I almost took a novel by Jimmy Buffett, but passed for now, I have enough to read. I road with the wind, breathing and riding steadily and easily.

Among my favorite bike rides are in a 100-acre forest near our cabin in northern Minnesota. My friend Bernadine Joselyn and I were riding bikes along this road through the woods when she saw an extraordinary tree, a white pine about 250 years old. She saw another old white pine nearby, about the same age. These trees can live to be 400 years old. What ancient magnificent giants? Still alive, towering over most trees in the forest. 

The bike ride home was sobering, with a sense of awe at what I had just experienced. A moment worth remembering.

Old White Pine in Northern, Minnesota

Save The Trees

The Old Silver Maple Tree by Michael Hooper

By Michael Hooper

Every time I hear a chainsaw, I cringe a little, fearing some poor tree is about to be cut down.

I live near Gage Park in Topeka so any trees cut down in the area affects the local ecosystem, including the traffic of hawks, woodpeckers, squirrels, and insects.

When the Topeka Zoo and Gage Park leadership proposed cutting down a multitude of trees in fall 2018 -- to create a stormwater drainage system and Kay's Garden -- I was trying to save the trees, writing articles about them, and raising my opposition.

These old growth trees, such as the old pin oaks, provide habitat for up to 300 species, mostly insects. The woodpeckers and lizards depend on these insects for their livelihood.

McKenzie Davis, news reporter, interviewed me and another neighbor about our opposition to cutting down the trees. I was upset that there was no public involvement in the decision.

The Zoo was on a mission to expand with its Kay's Gardens, and some consultant said the park needed this wetland to recycle the pollution that is left in the park from cars, which I thought was totally bogus.

I was in a state of mourning hearing the chain saws roar every day in winter 2018 and 2019, the winter of my discontent. Gage Park lost more than 70 trees, including a historic a Champion Tree -- a rubber tree in the zoo. I believe Gage Park has at least two remaining Champion Trees. An 87-foot tall willow oak (near Sunken Gardens) And a 66-foot-tall sugarberry.

The Kansas Forest Service's Champion Tree program recognizes great trees by measuring their circumference and crown spread, depending on volunteers for nominations.

On a cold winter day, Don Chubb, Skyler Troughton, Gordon Haight and Tobias Schlingensiepen and I all joined together in Gage Park to pray for the loss of the trees. We stood together in the grass in the zone east of Reinisch Rose Garden where so many trees were cut down for the new wetland. Skyler offered nuts and corn for the animals who lost their habitat. Squirrels typically store up food inside these trees for the winter and it was now winter time and they just lost their place to live and all the food that they had stored in it. 

It’s no wonder some of these homeless squirrels came looking for new habitat in my own yard and tried to chase out the squirrels who were already living inside our old growth maple tree. The local squirrels did not give up their homes so I don’t know where the intruders went but they left angry and homeless.

I am sad that one of the park's casualties was a beautiful old red oak, which shined spectacularly in the fall -- it was probably 120 years old and in great shape, people used to park their cars under this tree and eat their lunch over the noon hour.

Anyone living 100 years should be cherished and honored. There is a lovely burr oak at St. George, Kansas, the oak is over 350 years old. Nearby is a cottonwood tree that is probably about the same age, both near the Kansas River. The canopy of trees in this area is fantastic, I can imagine native Americans meeting there before white men arrived.

Topeka Country Club went through a recent renovation and lost many old growth trees in the process.

About 10 years ago, I allowed the electric company contractor to trim the old silver maple on the south side of my house. The trimmer said I should cut down the whole tree. I’m glad I ignored his advice. The tree continues to supply valuable shade on hot days and wonderful habitat for all kinds of wildlife.

I painted this silver maple tree sitting in my backyard, looking at the tree every day for a week. I was thinking of Claude Monet as he painted in his gardens, I sat in my garden and painted this tree and fell in love with it all the more.

The tree is perhaps my favorite metaphor. The deeper its roots, the broader its span. Much like our lives, the deeper we dig our roots into our family and community, the broader our span in life. Think of all the butterflies and birds who take refuge in these big trees, a shelter from the storm, a place to raise a new family, a place to store food for the winter, all of this, and much more in this lovely tree.

Trees suffer damage in storms. They need trimmed from time to time. The scars of old age remain but the tree survives and carries on. When the tree finally dies, it naturally decays and goes back to the soil.

We are all damaged in some way, but we carry on anyway. In our end, we return to the Earth to complete the cycle of life.

Trees talk to each other. Their whispers can be heard in the winds. The owl prefers the shelter of an old growth tree. I can hear the bard owl whooping in the night from my tree.

Trees fight global warming. A cathedral of trees shades a house from the heat and protects it from winds. In deep shade, the temperature is 5° to 10° cooler than in the open summer sun.

Plant a tree, help it grow; save one life, save yourself. Save the world.

Here are some of my paintings of trees in northern Minnesota, painted plein air this summer:

Below is a photo of me with an old white pine in northern Minnesota. There used to be millions of white pine in Minnesota but loggers cut most of them down in the 20th century.

A Full Day In Vieques, Puerto Rico

Grouper floating in paradise

By Michael Hooper

I wake up in the middle of the night to the sounds of a catfight. Two cats are howling and hissing and scratching. One cat delivers a low voluminous growl. After 20 minutes of this growling, I get out of bed and go to the window and shout, "Gatos, Get out of here!"

And then it’s quiet. At four in the morning, the rooster in our back yard starts crowing. He's followed by another rooster, a hundred feet away, competing in calls with his cockle doodle do. Then there’s a local rooster who is old and his voice is cracked, but he manages to croak out a short raspy cackle.

At dawn Heather sees a white cat with a gash of blood across his forehead.

At 8:30 am we join my brother's snorkeling crew at Secret Beach in Vieques. Our leader John makes us count. There’s 22 going out to sea. Let’s make sure there’s 22 coming back in. Most of these people are from Massachusetts. I follow them into the 10-to-20 foot deep water over rocks and coral. I see a multitude of fish, blue and yellow and white. A plump grouper is floating nearby. He sees me and darts away.

After 20 minutes I retreat to the shore. I visit with a woman named Sheila Mitchell from Miriam, Massachusetts, who came with the snorkeling group but decided to sit on shore. She’s an artist and manufactures' representative, who lives on Vieques in the winter months. We seem to click and have an engaging conversation and she invites my brother and me and Heather to visit her house. We go there in the afternoon, she lives on a mountain overlooking the island, we sit on her deck sipping drinks and looking at the boats in the bay at Isabel. To the west we see another mountain holding the Hix house, like a block of concrete against the hill, by architect and owner John Hix. 

In the evening, we eat fresh fish, such as red snapper, lobster or giant shrimps dipped in butter.  At the far end of the bay, I see a bomb fire. The Rastafarians gather there every evening to watch the sunset.

I'm in bed reading about American poet Harry Crosby in Paris in the 1920s. I hope the cats stay away tonight. I'm enjoying this book. I hear latin music in the distance and occasional co qui from the coqui frog. I hear the whirling ceiling fan. I hear a television from across the street, playing Sponge Bob Square Pants.

The Buoyancy of Floating

 

Plant Life in Vieques, Puerto Rico

Embrace your life no matter how difficult

I'm going to carry that weight

No matter how heavy

Somehow I will transcend this pain

And go to a place of sunshine, beauty and love

The sun shines the same for rich and poor alike

Seeking peace among all peoples is a worthy dream 

Yet hardship strikes us all

I go to the beach

and swim in the sea

forgetting my pain

connecting with nature

The buoyancy of floating 

among a multitude of fish

is a moment in paradise

Grouper and minnows, Vieques, PR.

--Art and poem by Michael Hooper, Jan. 18, 2025