he only United States stop for Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise, a landmark show highlighting the complex relationship between Paul Gauguin's work and the art and culture of Polynesia. The exhibition, on view at SAM Downtown, includes about 50 of Gauguin's brilliantly hued paintings, sculptures and works on paper, which are displayed alongside 60 major examples of Polynesian sculpture that fueled his search for the exotic. Organized by the Art Centre Basel, the show is comprised of works on loan from some of the world's most prestigious museums and private collections. Gauguin and Polynesia is the first exhibition to bring Polynesian studies to the center of an exploration of Paul Gauguin's art, revealing the dynamic relationship between the work of the great European artist and the Polynesian art that he encountered when he moved to the South Pacific islands in 1891.