The narrator first develops an acquaintance with Strickland's wife at literary parties
Strickland is a well off , middle class stockbroker in London
He leaves his wife and children and goes to Paris, becomes a painter
He is helped and supported by a Dutch painter , Dirk Stroeve
His wife , Blanche , abandons him for Strickland
After the Paris episode , the story continues in Tahiti
Strickland has already died , and the narrator attempts to piece together his life there from recollections of others
Strickland left behind numerous paintings , but his magnum opus , which he painted on the walls of his hut before losing his sight to leprosy , was burnt after his death by his wife per his dying orders…
