Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin stayed at the Hotel Delambre in 1891, in the weeks before sailing for Tahiti. A plaque inside the entrance records it.
Hôtel Delambre, 35 rue Delambre
Still standing
In, as a customer
A successor, same room
The Montparnasse hotel where Paul Gauguin stayed in 1891 in the weeks before he sailed for Tahiti — still trading, with a plaque inside the entrance recording it.
- 35 rue Delambre, 75014 Paris
- Gauguin stayed here in 1891, before sailing for Tahiti
The place, briefly
In 1891 Paul Gauguin auctioned thirty of his paintings at the Hôtel Drouot to raise the fare, and left for Tahiti. This hotel on the rue Delambre is where he stayed in the run-up to that departure.
The sale worked better than most things in his life had; it raised enough to go. He sailed in April 1891, arrived in June, and stayed two years. What came back with him in 1893 is the body of work the reputation rests on, and the reason it exists is a hotel bill on the rue Delambre and an auction on the rue Drouot.
The building is still a hotel, and a gold plaque inside the entrance records the stay. The street also carries plaques for other tenants — it has been absorbing Montparnasse's arrivals for well over a century.
Key facts
- 1891, before the first Tahitian voyage
- An auction of thirty paintings at the Hôtel Drouot
- April 1891, arriving in Tahiti in June
- A gold plaque inside the hotel entrance
- A working hotel — the entrance is public
Timeline
Gauguin auctions thirty paintings to fund the voyage and stays on the rue Delambre.
He sails for Tahiti in April.
He returns to Paris and takes the rue Vercingétorix studio.
On the map
Questions before you go
Can you stay at the Hôtel Delambre?
Yes — it is still a working hotel in Montparnasse, and a plaque inside the entrance records Gauguin's 1891 stay.
How did Gauguin pay to get to Tahiti?
By auctioning thirty of his own paintings at the Hôtel Drouot in 1891, which raised enough for the passage.
People who knew this place
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