Paul Gauguin was a post-impressionist and Symbolist painter from the 19th century who came from the Pont-Aven School of art. He started out as a painter of religious and genre paintings. He began to add stronger, brighter colors in large patches. Gauguin always believed that he had "primitive" and "savage" blood, originating from his ancestors. He made a trip to Tahiti where he created paintings inspired by the unspoiled natural landscapes and the natives, who he believed were not ruined by Western thought and civilization. Gauguin stood firm in his belief that technology and modern thought had ruined Europe and it was his duty to show the clean and paradisical nature of primitivism. Gauguin made several trips to Tahiti, finally settling there in order to paint. He eventually became ill and upon hearing of the death of his daughter, painted his greatest painting "Where do We Come From? What are We? Where are We Going?" as a suicide note before attempting an arsenic poisoning. He failed and lived on to create more art until his quiet death.