Based on the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and
Sixpence is W. Somerset Maugham's ode to the powerful forces
behind creative genius.
Charles Strickland is a staid banker, a man of wealth and
privilege. He is also a man possessed of an unquenchable desire to
create art. As Strickland pursues his artistic vision, he leaves
London for Paris and Tahiti, and in his quest makes sacrifices that
leaves the lives of those closest to him in tatters. Through
Maugham's sympathetic eye Strickland's tortured and cruel soul
becomes a symbol of the blessing and the curse of transcendent
artistic genius, and the cost in humans lives it sometimes
demands.