Gauguin Paul (1848-1903), was a French painter.  Decorative paintings  He also became noted for his ceramics, scupltures, and woodcuts. In his highly decorative paintings, Gauguin deliberately distorted nature by enclosing broad, flat areas of color with heavy contours. Gauguin style greatly increased the methods by which artists could express themselves. His paintings influenced both the fauves and the German expressionists during the early 1900's. Early life  Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was born in Paris. He went to sea at the age of 17 as a cadet in the merchant marine but did not pursue a naval career. Instead, he went into banking and became a successfull financier. In 1873, Gauguin married Mette Sophia Gad, the daughter of a Danish minister. They had five children. Soon after his marriage, Gauguin began painting and collecting pictures. In 1883, the banking industry suffered a crash, which Gauguin used as an excuse to abandon his business for painting.  Camille  Gauguin's early paintings resemble the works of the French artist Camille Corot and Camille Pissarro. As Gauguin gained experience, he used brighter, richter colors and emphasized pattern, rather than three dimensional figures and objects. But he could not sell any pictures and had difficulty supporting himself and his family. He quarreled with his wife over money, and they separated in 1885. In 1888, Gauguin moved to Brittany in northwestern France. There, he met the artist Emile Bernard. The two men formulated a philosophy and style of art that became known as synthetism. Synthetism stressed simplified form. intense color, and decorative effects, all of which are reflected in Gauguin's later paintings. Later life  Gauguin admired innocence and directness in people. He thought he could find these qualities in people who were untouched by modern civilization. His search for such people took him to Tahiti, where he lived from 1891 to 1893. He moved back to France in 1893 but returned to the South Seas permanently in 1895. He again settled in Tahiti and avoided the European settlers there. In his paintings, Gauguin idealized the peoples of the South Sea Islands.