Mangos
Two Tahitian Women, 1899
Paul Gauguin
Oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art Permanent Collection, New York, New York
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin is a French post-impressionist artist who focused on the primitiveness of Tahitian culture toward the end of his life. After his first trip to Tahiti in 1890, he spent a total of ten years in the French Polynesian country; most of his paintings from this time depict people or landscapes.
Two Tahitian Women was painted in 1899, depicting two topless women, one holding mango blossoms, on the Pacific Island of Tahiti. In this painting, Gauguin follows an artistic tradition of comparing woman's breasts to flowers or fruit, this is known as "Tahitian Eve" meaning very subtle, and naive, being capable of walking around naked without shame.
The mango tree is known as Mangifera Indica, which is native to South Asia, by eastern India. There are over 500 varieties of mangoes that are known. The mango is a member of the Anacardiaceae family and is a distant relative of the pistachio and cashew trees. The mango seed is too big and bulky to be carried by water or wind, many historians believe that migrants and traders brought mango seeds with them, which has led the mango to be well cultivated around the world.
The earliest known reference of cultivation of mangoes can be traced to India in 2000BC. The mango was brought to East Asia around 400–500 BC, then in the 15th century to the Philippines and French Polynesia, and in the 16th century to Africa, Brazil, Bermuda, West Indies and Mexico by Portuguese explorers. Later they eventually became colonized by France and imported to the American Colonies in the 17th century.
The French Polynesian islands were first settled by migrating Polynesians as early as 500BC. Polynesian immigrants who may have relocated from Southeast Asia who traveled by canoes and only brought the typical fruits of their region that they needed to survive during their long trip across the Pacific Ocean. The mango tree was quickly adopted by Tahitian people who used its trunk notably to build their canoes.
The English word "mango" had originated from the Malayalam word "māṅṅa" or "mangga" literally meaning "highest fruit." This came from the spice trade period with South India during the 15th and 16th centuries. When traveling, mangos had to be pickled because of lack of refrigeration this lead to other fruits being called "mangoes" because they also had to be pickled. This led the word "mango" became a verb meaning "to pickle."
The mango trees are long-lived, as some varieties still fruit after 300 years. After bananas, it is the most produced tropical fruit in the world where 300 species are cultivated. The mango is the national fruit of India and Pakistan, and unofficial national fruit of the Philippines. The mango tree in Bangladesh is the national tree.
Historically, mangos have been known as a symbol of life and happiness. In a legend, it is said that Buddha rested and meditated with his fellow monks in the peaceful tranquility of a lush mango grove. In Sanskrit, an Indian language, mangos are also referred to as the "kalpavriksha" meaning "the wish-granting trees," because of their taste and symbolic meaning the Indian culture.
For Gauguin in Tahiti, maybe he painted these two women with the mango blossom for the symbolic meaning of peace, life, and happiness that follows his artistic tradition of the "Tahitian Eve."