It's not an island paradise, and contains no sexually objectified Tahitian girls.
But a new acquisition at the National Gallery of Australia of a work by problematic French artist Paul Gauguin is still a big get, judging by the $9.8 million price tag.
The blue roof or Farm at Le Pouldu is the first painting by the artist to make its way into an Australian public collection.
The work, now hanging in the gallery's latest blockbuster exhibition exploring the artist's career, is one of a small number he painted on the Breton coast in 1890.
It's not one of his most famous - Gauguin is best known for his trippy depictions of French Polynesian locals - but The blue roof or Farm at Le Pouldu is considered an important precursor to the artist's unique approach to colour.
Gauguin spent five years travelling regularly between Paris, towns in Brittany and the south of France, working on consolidating his painting style.
He had begun his career in stockbroking, but embarked on a second career after the financial crisis of 1882.
Entirely self-taught, he painted vociferously until his death in 1903. His work would go on to influence generations of artists, and today he is considered one of the great Impressionists.
His work is regularly featured in major exhibitions in Paris and around the world, and the NGA holds seven Gauguin prints in its collection, with the first gifted by renowned Australian artist Sir Russell Drysdale in 1974.
But Gauguin has long been considered problematic on various levels.
Like many of his era, he was a colonialist with misogynistic leanings.
The young girls with glowing brown skin he depicted while Tahiti in the 1890s were young and impressionable, and he fathered children with at least three of them while his wife and children languished on the other side of the world.
He eventually died of syphilis.
The exhibition at the NGA is an opportunity to reignite some of the discussion around his legacy, while still appreciating the lasting beauty of his works.
Gallery director Nick Mitzevich said The blue roof was an important acquisition for the national collection.
"It captures a key point in art history - the moment when the artist emerged as an intensely original master, taking Impressionist colour schemes and transcending them to be bolder and more daring," he said.
"As the National Gallery, we aim to present Australian audiences with access to world-class art that inspires and educates. This work by Gauguin adds to the anchor works in the national collection from the past 100 years including by artists such as Claude Monet and Mary Cassatt through to Jackson Pollock and Louise Bourgeois."
The work was purchased through the National Gallery Foundation, and will be on show in the permanent collection galleries from late 2024.
- Gauguin's World: Tna Iho, Tna Ao is showing at the National Gallery of Australia until October 7. nga.gov.au
