Gaughin's £30m Bather

The TimesOnline reports that when one of the foremost art collectors in America bought a Gauguin painting in 1945, its subject — a Tahitian woman squatting in the water with her dress hoicked up around her waist — was considered racy. Now, as one of the greatest Tahitian scenes by the artist remaining in private hands, the depiction of an exotic paradise is expected to sell for $60 million (£30 million). For the past 62 years Te Poipoi (The Morning), a masterpiece of 1892, had been part of one of the most unparallelled collections ever assembled in America, that of the heiress and philanthropist Joan Whitney Payson and her brother, John Hay Whitney. They purchased many of the world’s greatest works. Joan owned the Irises by Van Gogh, which sold in 1987 for $53.9 million, and Au Lapin Agile by Picasso, which made $40.7 million in 1989, while her brother bought Garçon a la Pipe by Picasso, which sold in 2004 for $104 million, one of the highest prices for any work sold at auction. Joan’s daughter, Payne Middleton, 80, who inherited the painting after her mother’s death in 1975, has been advised by her lawyer to sell it for tax reasons. “It has always hung on a wall by itself in my living room,” she said. In Te Poipoi, Gauguin depicted an idealised version of paradise, untouched by Western influence. It was painted on the island’s southern coastal region of Mataiea in 1892. David Norman, chairman of the Impressionist and Modern Art Department Worldwide of Sotheby’s, said: “Te Poipoi is a refreshingly modern and daring interpretation of the ritual of the bath.” The painting is being exhibited at Sotheby’s in London from October 7 to 12 before its auction in New York on November 7. (For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art