Manaò tupapaú

Manaò tupapaú — The Spirit of the Dead Watches — is among the most discussed works in Gauguin's entire career. He recorded its origin in his autobiographical writings: returning home to find his young companion Teha'amana lying terrified in the dark, he painted the scene with a spirit figure crouching at the bed's end. The work sits at the intersection of his interest in Polynesian spirituality, the female nude, and the psychological states of fear and vulnerability. Now held by the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, it was exhibited at his 1893 Durand-Ruel show in Paris.

The composition divides between the horizontal nude figure in the lower portion and the ghost-like spirit crouching above the bedhead. Gauguin uses a deep, vibrant purple-blue for the background creating nocturnal otherworldliness.