Paul Gauguin was born in Paris in 1848 and spent some of his childhood in Peru. He worked as a stockbroker with little success; and suffered from bouts of severe depression. He also painted. In 1891; Gauguin; frustrated by lack of recognition at home and financially destitute; sailed to the tropics to escape European civilization and 'everything that is artificial and conventional'. His time there; particularly in Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands; was the subject of much interest both then and in modern times due to his alleged sexual exploits. He was known to have had trysts with several native girls; some of whom appear as subjects of his paintings. Gauguin died on 8 May 1903 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery (Cimeti猫re Calvaire); Atuona; Hiva 鈥極a; Marquesas Islands; French Polynesia.