An artwork on Galleree from Cleveland Museum of Art.
About the artwork
The Devil Speaks (Mahna No Varua Ino) (recto); Women Washing Clothes (verso)Noa Noa
1893–1894
Paul Gauguin
Gauguin spent the first seven years of his life with his mother and great uncle in Peru. In 1855 his mother took him back to France where he attended boarding school. He joined the merchant marine when he was seventeen and began traveling around South America. When Gauguin's mother died in 1868, Gustave Arosa, an art collector and photographer, became his legal guardian. Arosa's collection included works by Corot (q.v.), Courbet (q.v.), Delacroix (q.v.), and the Barbizon painters, and it was he who would encourage Gauguin to start painting. In 1872 Arosa found a job for Gauguin at a brokerage firm, giving him financial security. The following year he married a Danish woman, Mette Gad. Gauguin had already started painting and sculpting in his spare time and first exhibited at the Salon in 1876 with a landscape.1 He was asked by Pissarro (q.v.) and Degas (q.v.) to participate in the fourth impressionist exhibition in 1879, where from then on he would exhibit regularly. Durand-Ruel began purchasing his paintings, and in turn Gauguin started to collect the works of his colleagues, such as Manet (q.v.) and Renoir (q.v.) and, in particular, Cézanne (q.v.) and Pissarro. He went to Pontoise in 1882, where he painted with Cézanne and Pissarro, who along with Degas continued to influence him at this period. In 1883 Gauguin decided to become a full-time artist. In 1884 he moved with his wife and children to Rouen and then to Copenhagen, but he failed to earn a comfortable living. He returned to Paris in 1886 and met ceramicist Ernest Chaplet (1835-1909), who introduced him to his métier. Gauguin distanced himself from impressionism and in 1888 worked in Pont-Aven with Émile Bernard (1868-1941), who had been experimenting with creating compositions using flat areas of color and dark outlines (cloissonism). Gauguin also studied Japanese prints and Indonesian art. The impact of these influences is evident in Gauguin's Vision after the Sermon: Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (1888, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh), so far removed from his earlier impressionist style. Succumbing to van Gogh's (q.v.) many requests, Gauguin agreed to travel to Arles and paint with the artist; their characters, however, proved incompatible. Theo van Gogh, who worked for Boussod Valadon & Cie, would in the meantime sell Gauguin's work. For the next two years, Gauguin traveled often around Brittany. In search of a more pure and unspoiled culture, he auctioned off his paintings in 1891 in order to finance a journey to Tahiti. Upon his arrival, he was disappointed to find many expatriates and developed areas, yet he was still able to capture in his works an uncultivated spirit. He not only made paintings but also created bold woodcuts and sculptures and was an avid writer. Gauguin returned to France in 1893, where he was given a solo exhibition by Durand-Ruel that was not particularly successful. He decided to leave Europe again in 1895, moving to Tahiti and later to Hivaoa, a more remote island in the Marquesas. Because he abandoned naturalistic colors and used formal distortions in order to achieve expressive compositions, Gauguin's work became an inspiration for many subsequent artists. 1. Possibly Wildenstein 1964, no. 12.
In 1893, Paul Gauguin returned to Paris from time spent in Tahiti. He began to conceive of a book that would describe his life outside Europe and provide context for the avant-garde works he created while away. This print is one of a series of ten intended to illustrate this book, which Gauguin titled <em>Noa Noa</em>. He carved each image roughly into a woodblock and printed them himself, giving the prints a rough quality that he hoped would enhance their subject matter. Because of this process, combined with the artist's practice of varying his inks and papers while working, prints such as this one are virtually unique.
In 1921, Paul Gauguin's son Pola printed a new edition of his father's <em>Noa Noa </em>prints, wiping the woodblocks cleanly so the images were more legible.
woodcut
Sheet: 20.5 x 32.1 cm (8 1/16 x 12 5/8 in.); Image: 20.3 x 31.9 cm (8 x 12 9/16 in.)
The Jane B. Tripp Charitable Lead Annuity Trust
In a quiet moment of reflection, amidst the soft bustle of late 19th-century Paris, Paul Gauguin found himself haunted by the vibrant colors and rich cultures of Tahiti, the distant paradise he had recently left behind. It was 1893, and the artist's heart was still cradled in the warmth of the sun-kissed shores he had called home, longing to share the stories and experiences that had transformed his artistic vision.
As he settled back into the rhythm of Parisian life, Gauguin began to dream of a book that would bring the island's essence to those who had never experienced its beauty. He envisioned this volume, which he aptly named *Noa Noa*, as a canvas for his tales of life outside the familiar confines of Europe—a narrative woven together with the threads of his avant-garde artistry crafted during his time on the islands.
To bring this vision to life, he chose a process as raw and authentic as the experiences he wished to convey. With meticulous care, he carved each of the images intended for his book into woodblocks, channeling the wild spirit of Tahiti through the rough, textural quality of his prints. Each stroke of the carving tool echoed the rhythm of the waves and whispered the stories of the vibrant life he had known. It was a labor of love; a heart that beat not only for the art but also for the stories pulsating beneath its surface.
But in this artistic journey, Gauguin embraced the unpredictability of creation. He experimented with varying inks and papers, reveling in the uniqueness that emerged from every print. The result was not merely a reproduction of an image but a singular experience—a moment captured in time that spoke with its own voice, much like the island that inspired it.
This particular print, part of a series of ten, stands as a testament to Gauguin's defiance against the conventional norms of his time, inviting the viewer to explore the depths of his journey and the soul of Tahiti. In its simplicity and roughness, it offers a glimpse into the heart of an artist who dared to share his profound stories, forever connecting the world of Europe with the enchanting lands of the South Seas.
About the artist
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