Maternité

Gauguin's Maternité, painted in 1899 in Tahiti, is tied to the birth of his son Émile. Three women occupy a frieze-like space against a seashore. A standing woman at center holds white flowers in prayer-like clasping; a seated figure nurses an infant; a third holds fruit.

The painting transforms domestic intimacy into sacred ritual, echoing European Adoration scenes filtered through Polynesian life. A goat in the foreground underscores the harmony between humans and nature.

Acquired after Gauguin's death; a smaller variant sold at Sotheby's in 2004 for $39.2M. This primary version is at the State Hermitage Museum.