The Moon and Sixpence - W Somerset Maugham

The Moon and Sixpence, is a fictionalized biography of the artist Paul Gauguin. The stand-in character for Gauguin is Charles Strickland, who deserts his wife and children to become a painter. In Paris, he is indifferent to the friendship offered by a fellow artist, Dirk Stroeve. Strickland devastates those around him by running away with Blanche, Stoeve's wife, who has fallen in love with him. In reality, he has no use for Blanche, except as the model for a painting, and upon the painting's completion, abandons her as well.