Before painting nudes on the beaches of Tahiti, Paul Gauguin was an apprentice pilot, a tent seller in Copenhagen, and a stockbroker in Paris. Gauguin, who exerted an enormous influence on the Post-Impressionist avant-garde, settled in the Pacific in search of a pristine paradise that contrasted with the artificial life of Europe, which he rejected. The intense story of his life is matched only by his incredibly colorful paintings and his mastery of color.