The Hibiscus Tree (Te Burao)

Painted in 1892 during Gauguin's first Tahitian stay, this canvas takes its name from the hibiscus tree — the 'burao' in Tahitian — and presents figures beneath and around this iconic tropical tree. Gauguin consistently used named Tahitian flora to ground his paintings in a specific place while simultaneously elevating them to mythic status. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this work, and its pairing with other major Gauguin canvases in the Chicago collection makes the museum one of the finest places to study his Tahitian development.

The hibiscus tree provides a vertical and canopy structure for the composition, its flowers adding colour accents of red and yellow against the green foliage. Figures in the foreground and middle ground are arranged with the hieratic calm of Gauguin's mature Polynesian style. The palette is richly saturated: deep greens, warm earth tones, bright flower accents — all applied with the decisive flatness of his mature method.