The Glyptotek has acquired a contemporary artwork that offers a modern interpretation of one of Western art history’s most iconic—and most controversial—artists. The new acquisition, and the museum’s first video work, First Impressions: Paul Gauguin (2018), is by the Japanese-Sāmoan contemporary artist Yuki Kihara.
Presented in the format of a talk show, the video work features a host and panel who are shown reproductions of Gauguin paintings from Tahiti (including two from the museum’s own collection), after which they share their first impressions. As the conversation unfolds, Gauguin fades into the background, giving way to the participants’ own perspectives and speculative stories about the paintings’ models.
Both Kihara and the talk show participants belong to the Fa’afafine and Fa’atama communities, the Sāmoan counterparts to Māhū, a Tahitian term referring to individuals endowed with spiritual gifts from more than one gender. In colonial times, the Māhū were banned by missionaries, but researchers believe that several of Gauguin’s figures may depict Māhū—a theory also discussed among the panel.
The video work was co-commissioned by the Glyptotek and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. It was previously shown as part of the Glyptotek’s special exhibition Paul Gauguin – Why Are You Angry? (2020), which later toured to Alte Nationalgalerie (2022). That same year, the work was included in the 59th Venice Biennale, where Kihara represented Aotearoa New Zealand. Now, the work returns to the Glyptotek as a newly conceived installation and permanent part of the museum’s collection.