Musée d’Orsay · 1897
Vairumati
Paul Gauguin
Gauguin paints Vairumati, a legendary figure from Tahitian mythology sometimes called the islands' first mother — her union with the god 'Oro was said to have founded a sacred Tahitian society, making her a figure as central to Tahitian myth as Eve is to the Bible.
Why it matters
Gauguin paints Vairumati, a legendary figure from Tahitian mythology sometimes called the islands' first mother — her union with the god 'Oro was said to have founded a sacred Tahitian society, making her a figure as central to Tahitian myth as Eve is to the Bible.
Look closer
Look at the white bird and the dark lizard beside her — Gauguin fills the scene with symbolic creatures rather than realistic detail, using flat red and gold to suggest something sacred and timeless rather than a specific place.
Vairumati reappears as a figure in Gauguin's largest and most ambitious painting, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, made the same year — connecting this work directly to what he considered his life's masterpiece.
Value context
ELYIO places this work in an indicative editorial context of €25–45 million.
The museum work is not for sale. This is ELYIO indicative context—not an appraisal, insurance value or offer.