"The Spirit of the Dead Keep Watch"

Does Lucy identify with Paul Gauguin? This question was asked in class and stuck out to me. I think there are aspects of Lucy's and Gauguin's lives that are similar but ultimately Lucy in not like him.
First, as Lucy sees the life of an artist at the party she went to she does not seem to identify herself with them. "They were artists...it seemed to be a position that allowed for irresponsibility " (Kingcaid 98). I think that Lucy feels responsible for herself, Mariah and Lewis' family, and her own family. She has a job that she likes and makes her responsible for the children. Also, she still thinks about her past, and although she is kind of rebelling against her mother and her families view of her, Lucy still feels responsible for the things and people she left behind.
Similarly, I think Gauguin did the same thing as Lucy. He left his home and his family in order to "leave everything artificial and conventional." In his painting "The Spirit of the Dead Keep Watch", I think that the faces in the background represent the spirits of the people he left behind, or "the dead". The fact that they are in the walls and surroundings, I think symbolizes their constant presence. This may mean that he still feels a responsibility for them.
Lucy says, "I wondered if ever in my whole life a day would go by when these people I had left behind, my own family, would not appear before me in one way or another" (8). This shows her similar feelings to Gauguin that their families will always be present in their lives no matter how they tried to get away.
While Lucy does not fit into her view of an artist, as "irresponsible", I think that she is similar to Gauguin because of their experiences with their failed attempts to forget their families. I could be completely wrong in the interpretation of Gauguin's painting though.