The Queen of Beauty -- Langorous
Original title: The Queen of Beauty -- Langorous
kurzbeschreibung
Paul Gauguin made this woodcut in 1898. It was printed on transparent wove paper and then laid down onto bristol board. A resting female figure occupies the foreground, while additional figures appear behind her against a flat backdrop.
Description
In front, a woman reclines with her upper body propped up; one hand supports her head, the other rests on her belly. Her legs are slightly bent, and she wears a bikini-like top. Behind her, several figures are scattered in various poses, some with wing- or fin-like forms. Black and white dominate, with even light and no shadows.
Context
This woodcut belongs to Gauguin's first Tahiti period and dates from 1898. From the mid-1890s onward, he increasingly experimented with printmaking. Polynesian motifs blend here with European allegories—a combination that would become characteristic of his later oeuvre.
Impact
Light areas meet dark passages, giving the sheet a strong graphic tension. The calm, almost languid pose of the main figure creates a meditative mood that is picked up and deepened by the floating shapes behind her.
Technique
Executed as a woodcut, the image was printed on transparent wove paper and then mounted onto bristol board. This process yields bold lines and areas of strong contrast, typical of Gauguin's woodcuts from these years.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)