Landscape with Two Goats (Tarari Maruru)

Landscape with Two Goats (Tarari Maruru) dates from Gauguin's first Tahitian stay (1891–93) and takes its title from a Tahitian phrase meaning something like 'satisfied contentment.' The landscape subject with animals was relatively unusual in Gauguin's Tahitian output, which more typically centred on the human figure, but he painted several such works exploring the Pacific vegetation and the integration of domesticated animals into the rural landscape. The title suggests Gauguin was genuinely attempting to learn and use Tahitian language, something he documented in Noa Noa, though his command of it remained limited.

The high horizon and compressed spatial depth give the canvas a decorative, almost tapestry-like quality. The goats are painted with simplified outlines set against dense tropical foliage in multiple greens and yellows. The foreground path and earth tones create a warm base against which the cool vegetative mass reads.