Woman with a Fan: Paul Gauguin's Heavenly Vairaumati-a Parable ...

indicates ihe legend, but really the style." In "the virgins of
Ciniabiie," lie perc(eivwd "the ridiculous beauty" that brought
atheiiuicit' to this Italian Primitive's style. Ever droll, he
added that "by the fact of this ridiculousness, [they] are
closer to dhe phenomenon that has become dogma Uesus
born of a virgin and the Holy Ghost) than any other virgin
commonly celibate."8s9
Vairaumati-a Marquesan Homologue of the Virgin Mary
Gauigiiin's theosophical views facilitated his mergers of Chrislian
andi non-Western religious figures, which multiplied in
his art aierfi he arrived in the South Pacific. He adapted
b)i)blical paratbles to Oceanian myths and translated Eve and
hie Virgin Mary into Polynesian archetypes-as in 7'e nave
nave lennaa (I)elighqf tdLand) and Ia Orana Maria (We Greet Thee
Maiy). 'Th myth of Vairaumati imitates the prototype of the
Virgin Mary, fiom thle Annunciation to the Assumption. In
the goilache Te Earuru (To Make Love), also known as The
Annunciation, thi angel takes leave of Mary in a cloud of
smoke that rccalls the scene in the Ancien culte mahorie where
Oro rises t(i the heavens as a pillar of fire after Vairaumati
annoinices her pregnancy. 1 ) As the new Eve, Vairaumati
assumtties Ile persona of the mother of Christ' 1 )
Painted ais lie wrote the final draft of "L'esprit moderne et
Ic cathilicism sie," Woman with a Fan commands the authority
of an icon-a deity static on her throne, removed to the
Iraiiqillity of another realm. Her queenly mien distingutishcd
Ithe )ictuire from the outset.92 She is a meditation on
Ihe heavcnly Vairaumati-a MarqUesan homologue of the
Virgin Mary. Hler glow matches the tradition whereby the
mother of( Christ, "like the other forms of the queen of
hcaveti, ha([ the cllorn of the mater fiu gum, the complexion
of golden corn.'" In this context, the token of Hina, the
while f'ealher fan, coild perhaps double (not without huttior)
is a proxy once removed for the dove of the Holy
(;host.
ItI the utpper left corner of Woman with a Fan, blue organic
fotrms hang fino a brown branch, resembling fruit found in
oli er of (;auguin's Polynesian paintings.' 4 They are probably
a muflled cveretration of the apples forbidden to Eve-the
symbol of fertility at the origin of the cycle of man. Typical of
his approach, i Gauguin transferred a well-established Western
conveiion, such as fruit equated with knowledge and fecundity,
to an Oceanian cognate that he suffuses with multiple
power s if siggestion, extending from its biblical sense to the
Ma0ii myth, finally to resonate as a metasymbol of creativity.f
Ih'ic intersection of the narratives of Vairaumati and the
Virgin Mary reach their consummate synthesis in Woman with
a Pan. Gauguiii entwined the identities of these two mortal
women elevated to their respective kingdoms, not to make
Vairauniati into the Virgin Mary but to legitimate her as a
metal)hor of the soul's immortality.
A Parable of Immortality
As his hcalth declined, Gauguin was immersed in contemplating
the fate of the soul and the longevity of art. His near
obsession with his posthumous renown intensified as he
seused hiniseI fnarginalized in a remote corner of the globe.
WOMAN WITH A /AN: PAUL (GAUG.tlN'S HFAVENLY VAIRAUtNATI 563
He felt compelled to ensure that his reputation as the maverick
hero of the Parisian avant-garde would not fade with his
demise. That he wrote three books in the last year of his life
betrays his gnawing fear that he might be in danger of being
forgotten. And he set about making pictures that he hoped
would crystallize the audacity of his innovations. His contributions
had to be comprehensible to his audience if he were
to be remembered for "the right to dare all."
Vested with the emblem of liberty, Woman with a Fan serves
as a beacon to propagate his claims to posterity. As the
summation of the myth of Vairaumati, the figure not only
commemorates the debut of his Tahitian cult themes, she is
also the most human metamorphosis of a cherished motif
from his visual repertoire. Her corporeal transformation in
the myth is comparable to the evolution of the pose, rooted
in Puvis's Hope, that Gauguin modified in consecutive paintings
from 1892 to 1902. The regeneration epitomized in the
heavenly Vairaumati is literally implemented in the pictorial
dynamic through the mutation of the manifold sources that
constitute her identity. Consequently, Woman with a fian exemplifies
the premise of transposition, tying the permutations
of art to the immortality of the soul.
Thus Gauguin embedded meaning into the pictorial field
in Woman with a Fan. The attributes-fan, fruit, throne-are
merely signposts pointing to the mythical identity of the
sitter, while the transformation of motifs and formal elements
integral to the construction of the painting determines its
value as a parable illuminating the creative process. Disparate
components-a patriotic insignia, a Polynesian myth, an exotic
fan, a Byzantine altar, a recent painting-are transformed
with a freedom of handling that contradicts the
inherited traditions and polished detail of the academy. Gaugurn
mingled artistic sources in a freewheeling fashion akin
to his syncretic approach to religion, a theosophical potpourri
of Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Polynesian ideas
mixed into an unorthodox faith that suited his personal
circumstances. For him, the renewal of art through transposition
became synonymous with that of the soul through
metempsychosis, uniting his aesthetic and religions beliefs in
a parable of immortality. In an era that replaced religion with
art, Gauguin proposed a paradigm that fused them.
For Gauguin art was as deeply subjective as religion. Woman
with a Fan reverberates with nuances, "like dreams, an assemblage
more or less formed from things or thoughts
glimpsed."96 His viewers are empowered to share the wonan's
compelling reverie, emotionally sustained by the abstract
ingredients of color and technique. Through the medium of
the parable, veiled in poetic ambiguity, the painting engenders
a dialogue pertinent to the mysteries of human existence.
Just as Vairaumati represents the individual who attains
immortality in Gauguin's Tahitian pantheon, her
transfiguration in his oeuvre signifies the vitality of his artistic
achievement. Her pictorial reincarnation is the "new link in
the chain" that connects his art to the twentieth century. All
aspects of Woman with a Fan, from its subject to the handling,
conspire to secure Gauguin a place in the continuum of art
history. The synthesis is crncial to his definition of transposition,
where the liberties taken with the art of the past provide
posterity with a benchmark for his accomplishments. At stake
is the premise of his own immortality.