This monumental piece may be Paul Gauguin's most famous painting. He painted it while in his utopia: Tahiti. He had been living in this culture because was disgusted by the progressing civilization and technology that was developing in cities such as Paris. He saw many negative aspects of the industrial revolution and he thought the city life in Paris was terrible. The luddite found a fascination with the culture in Tahiti and he began to favor the culture for its simplicity. He had been searching for an untouched paradise and he found it in Tahiti (Kalb, 2004).
While in his utopian Tahiti, Gauguin decided to create a large painting to portray the cycle of life. Because he paints the cycle of life in this environment, it is evident that Gauguin sees the Tahitian culture the essence of existence. It is not tainted with the problems that Gauguin sees in city that has been industrialized. Gauguin sees many problems with the industrial revolution and the advancing technology at the time: many "do not see the bigger impact...while in the vortex of change"(Joy, 2000, p. 55). Bill Joy comments that many scientists "(fail) to understand the consequences of our inventions while we are in the rapture of discovery and innovation...not stopping to notice that the progress to newer and more powerful technologies can take a life of its own" (2000, p.55). Gauguin could clearly see the negative aspects of society that was progressively becoming more dependent on technology: he thought it was taking away from the true essence of life.