with the young child and finishing with the old woman. The characters do not seem to interact with one another, but instead glare at the viewer. Their facial expressions and body language is provocative as each one turns their head and stares. The placement of arms is also noticeably unique in this painting. On the left side of the painting the woman sitting down next to the central figure raises her arm up and over her head, while the central character reaches to pick a piece of fruit from a tree. Their bodies are contoured in unnatural positions, which is emphasized by the strained expression on the woman all the way on the right. None of the characters seem to be concerned with any of the children or animals in this work. The baby on the far right is fast asleep on a rock, while the small girl on the left is busy eating some fruit. Unlike many of the other characters, these two children are not interested in what is going on around them. Gauguin creates depth in Where do we come from? both by manipulating the surroundings, as well as the characters. Beyond the edge of the jungle, an open vista of the ocean and nearby island can be seen. They are far off in the distance and the crest of the waves are nearly visible. This creates depth by showing what happens beyond the immediate foreground. In the foreground, Gauguin creates depth by staggering the spacing of the characters. The central figure is noticeably larger than those further back. Unlike many of the other aspects of the painting, such as color and light, Gauguin has kept the depth perception truly realistic without over-exaggerating it. During the later part of Gauguins’ life his interests in painting began to shift. Instead of his earlier ethnographic phase, he became more interested in creating paintings that transcended the particular place in which they were made. This style change was demonstrated by six major horizontal paintings, which represent some of the great...
