On one visit to Paris, I saw a sculptured and painted wood panel by Gauguin in a large well-known gallery on the Left Bank. It was quite sensual, and I figured it would not be easily accepted by the American public. I passed it over, bur during the following year I kept thinking of it, and resolved that the next time I got to Paris I would look at it again. On my next trip, I went to the gallery, and not seeing any sign of it around – and knowing the dealer well enough nor to show too much interest in it – I inquired whether she owned a Gauguin cane. She said no, but did mention the panel I was after, and after daily visits over three or four days, we finally concluded a deal. But that was only the beginning. First, I had to gain the permission of the Louvre to take the work out of the country. Then I had to pass it through U.S. Customs, which could have refused admission on account of its indecency. Third, there was the question of where to hang it once I had overcome the first two obstacles. One way or another I overcame these hurdles, and the panel arrived at my New York office.

Reading through books on Gauguin, I found that the words on the panel, "TE FARE AMU," meant "House of Joy" in the Tahitian language. The right side of the panel depicts a man and a woman together with an animal nearby that represents perfidy. The center, beneath the words, shows a fetus as it grows into a worm and then a tadpole. On the left side of the panel is the image of a prostitute, with her genitals exposed and red buttons running up her spine denoting passion.

The panel was hung over the entrance door to Gauguin's hut in the Marquesas Islands; in addition, he had carved two nudes, one on each side of the door. In the last two years of Gauguin's life, he had not only gone native, but had assumed the role of protector of the natives. It seems that a missionary bishop was trying to civilize the natives by forcing them to wear shoes, go to church regularly, and observe marriage vows and ceremonies. Gauguin had many arguments with the bishop, and after a final falling out, he made the panels and hung them about his entrance door, and the bishop never entered his house again.