Smoking Mirror: An Encounter with Paul Gauguin - Softcover

This second book in the "Art Encounters" series, based on Gauguin's "Matamoe," or as it is commonly called, "Landscape with Peacocks," takes readers on an action-packed South Sea adventure with a young sailor, Joe Sloan. After the murder of his friend, Robert, Joe goes on a mission to find Robert's girlfriend, a Tahitian girl named Tehane, and deliver the news personally and to avenge his friend's death. He doesn't have far to go before fate unites him with his friend's killer, the Marquesan warrior, Gun, and his nefarious master, a man known as the White Wolf. As Joe navigates the unknown territory of Tahiti and its people, he finds an unlikely ally in the French artist, Paul Gauguin. In the course of the story, Rees introduces the reader to Gauguin and his work, the artist's relationship with the Tahitian natives, and his artistic temperament. Gauguin painted "Landscape with Peacocks" in 1892, while he was living in Tahiti. With films such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Master and Commander", adventures on the high seas are more popular than ever, making this book a timely one. Gauguin is frequently the subject of exhibits, such as "The Studio of the South" (toured the world in 2002).

Douglas Rees is the author of "Lightning Time" (0-1413-0317-4) and "Vampire High" (0-385-73117-5). He lives in San Jose, CA. "From the Hardcover edition."