Focus on this artwork and discuss the Background.
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist and figure in the Symbolist movement known for his contributions to the Synthetist style. In 1886, he spent the summer in Pont-Aven in Brittany, an artists colony that became known as the Pont-Aven School for Gauguin's influence and the work they produced. In late 1888, Gauguin painted for nine weeks with Vincent van Gogh at his Yellow House in Arles in the south of France before van Gogh had a breakdown, leading him to cut off his ear and be hospitalized.  Gauguin left Arles and never saw van Gogh again, but they continued to exchange letters and ideas.
He briefly returned to Paris where he lived with painter Émile Schuffenecker, but returned to Pont-Aven in the spring of 1889 only to find it too crowded. Gauguin moved farther away "to escape the tourists and the Parisian and foreign painters" and arrived at Le Pouldu on October 2, 1889.  He found lodgings with Meijer de Haan at Buvette de la Plage, an inn run by Marie Henry. De Haan introduced Gauguin to Thomas Carlyle's novel Sartor Resartus (1836) by way of conversation.  Although he would not read the novel for several more years, Gauguin became acquainted with Carlyle's ideas which would influence his approach to art during this time.The interior of Marie Henry's inn became their canvas, and they painted their work on the walls, ceilings, and windows.  They were later joined by artists Paul Sérusier and Charles Filiger.  According to Nora M. Heimann, when the room was completed, it "encompassed paintings of every major type—genre, landscape, self-portraiture, portraiture, still life, and even history painting—in media ranging from tempera and oil on plaster to oil on canvas and panel; as well as prints and drawings; painted and glazed ceramic vessels; exotic found objects; and carved, polychromed figures in wood."
Gauguin tried to win the affection of Marie Henry, the innkeeper, but she spurned his advances and became intimate with de Haan instead, leaving Gauguin jealous.  Gauguin departed on November 7, 1890, leaving his work at Marie Henry's inn. She retired in 1893 and moved to Kerfany, taking many of the art works with her.  She continued to lease the inn until 1911 when she sold it. When the new owner was redecorating the inn in 1924, which by then had been converted into a restaurant, the rest of the murals were discovered buried intact under wallpaper.
Meijer de Haan Le Pouldu Paul Sérusier cut off his ear and be hospitalized Arles Charles Filiger Symbolist wood Émile Schuffenecker Paul Gauguin Thomas Carlyle Pont-Aven School Vincent van Gogh Pont-Aven polychrome Synthetist Sartor Resartus polychromed figures left Brittany