Nirvana: Portrait of Meyer de Haan

This extraordinary 1889 portrait of Meyer de Haan as 'Nirvana' is one of Gauguin's most charged psychological images from his Brittany period. Meyer de Haan was a Dutch Jewish painter who had left a prosperous Amsterdam business to pursue art, and whom Gauguin befriended at Le Pouldu. Gauguin painted him with the intensity of fascination and ambivalence — de Haan's intellectual, slightly sinister features and his complex spiritual situation (a religious Jew drawn to Buddhist and theosophical ideas) gave Gauguin rich symbolic material. The 'Nirvana' title suggests a Buddhist dissolution of self, and the brooding, intense face suggests a spiritual state beyond ordinary consciousness.

The face is depicted with almost hallucinatory intensity against a turbulent, decorative background. Gauguin uses heavy outlines to flatten and abstract the features, yet the psychological presence is overwhelming. Symbolic elements — swirling forms, flame-like shapes — surround the figure. The palette is dominated by dark, rich colors punctuated by vivid accents.