Ind. Reading "The Moon and Sixpence". Finale

Summary (the whole book)

Charles Strickland was a 40-year-old London stockbroker who left his middle-class life to set up in Paris as an artist. He rejected everything in his life for a single-minded pursuit of his art. Only Stroeve recognized Strickland’s genius in his lifetime. Charles was the brilliant painter but he knew little about artists or artistic technique whilst Stroeve understood art but couldn’t produce greatness himself. When Strickland was very ill, Stroeve took him to his studio to look after him though his wife Blanche was against of it. Later on, Blanche felt in love with the genius and as soon as he got tired of painting naked Blanche he left her. Having been unable to forgive the victims her husband brought by having married her when she was pregnant, Blanche had committed suicide. After Dirk’s wife died, he went home to Holland. When Strickland showed his paintings to the author, they produced a strong and strange impression upon him. In them there was an effort to express something as if the artist knew the soul of the universe and must put it into his paintings. After numerous wanderings, Strickland made his way to Tahiti where he found a new family and spent the rest of his life devoted to his art. In spite of his blindness, the last stage of leprosy, he continued to work, painting the walls of the house. Strickland ordered his new wife to burn down the house after his death and she didn’t dare to disturb his last wish. Only after the artist’s death, his paintings were recognized by the society and many people were sorry that they missed the opportunity to buy his works for pennies then were worth a fortune.