Wooden lintel, Maison du Jouir, Paul Gauguin Cultural Center, Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

Farah Diba

Carved wooden lintel on the reconstruction of the Maison du Jouir or House of Pleasure, home to French artist Paul Gauguin, 1848-1903, from 1901 to his death, now part of the Paul Gauguin Cultural Center, a museum which opened in 2003, in Atuona, on the island of Hiva Oa, in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. The building is a traditional 2-storey hut with a wooden lintel carved by Gauguin in 1901 with the inscription, ‘Be mysterious. Be loving and you will be happy’. Picture by Manuel Cohen