A polychromed wood relief by Paul Gauguin, titled 'Te Fare Amu', is set to undergo conservation to remove overpaint that has obscured the figure's genitals for seven decades. The sculpture was partially painted over in 1954 by American collector Henry Pearlman, who feared the work would be seized by US Customs as 'obscene' or 'indecent' upon its import from Paris. The piece is part of a major 63-work promised donation from the Pearlman family foundation to the Brooklyn Museum, LACMA, and MoMA.
This conservation effort is significant as it aims to restore Gauguin’s original artistic intent and color palette, which included symbolic red vermilion paint. The restoration highlights the evolving standards of censorship and the role of modern conservation technology in reclaiming 'suppressed' art history. As the work moves into the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum this October, it provides a lens into both Gauguin's controversial legacy in Polynesia and the mid-century American social mores that led to the work's alteration.