A flagship artist of Post-Impressionism, Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) was the object of a true cult, especially for the Nabis who saw in him a new messiah of modern art. Both leader of the Pont-Aven school and painter of the tropics, the "savage" Gauguin was an extraordinary personality. His life, marked by his friendship with Van Gogh, his travels in Polynesia in search of authenticity, is worthy of a true novel. His work reflects this uncompromising temperament. Born of Impressionism, Gauguin developed a personal work (painted and sculpted) tending to formal synthetism, and in which mysticism is never absent.