COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.1996.418
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Drawings and Watercolors
Creator Name:
Gauguin, Paul
Creator Name:
Gauguin, Paul
Creator Nationality:
European; French
Creator Role:
Artist
Creator Dates/Places:
French, 1848 - 1903
Creator Name-CRT:
Made by Paul Gauguin
Title:
Tahitians
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
ca. 1891-93
Creation Start Date:
1891
Creation End Date:
1893
Materials and Techniques:
Charcoal on laid paper
Dimensions:
16 1/8 x 12 1/4 in. (41 x 31.1 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
1996.418
Credit Line:
Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 1996
Context:
Gauguin's almost worshipful appreciation of exotic peoples, whom he believed to be innocent of modern civilization's woes, is stirringly conveyed in this New World icon. At its center is the face of a dark-haired young woman whom Gauguin painted on his first voyage to Tahiti. Two renderings of profiles (right and left) are conjoined with a full frontal view in a haunting totemic design that evinces fascination and awe. These masklike faces, devoid of any sign of emotion in their blank eyes and closed lips, appear timeless and remote, much as do the stone heads sculpted by ancient Asians and Egyptians.
Arguably the finest of all Gauguin's surviving drawings, this charcoal study is a work of exceptional feeling and finesse. By smudging the sooty contour lines and shadows with his fingers (or perhaps with a wad of soft bread), the artist defined features of the Maori race in a way that conveys both enthnographic accuracy and spirituality. For Gauguin, a young and beautiful Tahitian woman was a powerful symbol of life's mysterious forces.
Arguably the finest of all Gauguin's surviving drawings, this charcoal study is a work of exceptional feeling and finesse. By smudging the sooty contour lines and shadows with his fingers (or perhaps with a wad of soft bread), the artist defined features of the Maori race in a way that conveys both enthnographic accuracy and spirituality. For Gauguin, a young and beautiful Tahitian woman was a powerful symbol of life's mysterious forces.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.dp1996.418.R.tif
Initial Sort:
Gauguin, Paul
Link To Source
Tahitians
