painting by Paul Gauguin came as a welcome surprise. Though this work

is known to specialists, it has rarely been seen, as its Swiss owner

was very reluctant to loan it out for exhibitions. Even in

reproduction, it is absolutely striking, not only because of the

beautifully preserved colors, but also because of the strangeness of

its subject. Painted by Gauguin during his first trip to Tahiti, it

shows what appears to be the severed head of a man placed on a white

pillow in the center of the composition...