Christie’s will offer Paul Gauguin’s Te Fare (La maison) in its February 28 impressionist and modern auction sale in London.

The work was one of a series of just over 60 paintings he produced while staying in Tahiti in 1892.

Gauguin lived in Tahiti  on and off from 1892 until his death in 1903 

That’s the same year he painted one of his great masterpieces, When Will You Marry?, which realised $300m in a private sale in 2015.

It remains the most valuable artwork ever sold.

Gauguin first visited Tahiti, then a French colony, in 1891.

He acquired the funds to get there by holding an auction of his work, as well as a banquet.

He remained in Tahiti for two years, before returning to Paris in 1893. There he ended up divorcing his wife and losing his patron.

By 1895 he was on a ship back to the south Pacific, embittered and disillusioned with western society. He lived in Tahiti until his death in 1903.

The present work shows his home on the island, surrounded by figures in traditional dress. The intense colours of the landscape around are captured in Gauguin’s inimitable hand.

It’s expected to sell for around £12m-18m ($14.9m-22.3m).

After years of struggle and poverty in Europe, Tahiti turned out to be a paradise for Gauguin.

He wrote: “In the end, I understand the language quite well, my naked feet, from daily contact with the rock, have got used to the ground; my body, almost always naked, no longer fears the sun; civilisation leaves me bit by bit and I begin to think simply.

“Every morning the sun rises serene for me as for everyone, I become carefree and calm and loving.”

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