15. Otaheite (with Baroque decoration) – oil on canvas (29½" by 38½")

An early European view of a tropical paradise – pre-Gauguin and without his sensual golds and browns and relying instead on composition and reflection to describe the allure of this contented paradise. Still a slightly European backdrop but coconut palms line the stream instead of elms and oak. Contrast this with the perils of rounding Cape Horn and the hypothesis of the siren like lure of the island becomes quite believable.

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