Named in memory of Paul Gauguin (1848—1903), leading French painter of the post-impressionist period, who abandoned imitative art for expressiveness through color. A meeting with van Gogh {see planet  (4457)} at Paris (1886) and a journey to Martinique (1887) were decisive experiences in his life. In Tahiti he discovered the brilliant coloring and sensuous delights of a tropical landscape, enjoying in a primitive community the “natural” life. (M 35493) _ _.