← Paul Gauguin

Woman with Figs (1894, printed ca. 1963)

Original title: Woman with Figs

Artist

Paul Gauguin

Date

1894, printed ca. 1963

Medium

Etching

Dimensions

Sheet: 14 3/4 × 20 3/8 in. (37.5 × 51.8 cm) Plate mark: 10 1/2 × 16 5/8 in. (26.7 × 42.2 cm)

Credit line

Hermina, Movses, Charles and David Allen Devrishian Fund, 2000

kurzbeschreibung

Paul Gauguin's etching 'Woman with Figs' from 1894, printed around 1963, presents a Tahitian woman seated at a table with fruit, set against a rural backdrop.

Description

A woman sits at a table, holding something in her hands — likely a fruit. On the tabletop, several fruits are arranged, including a bowl and a round fruit. She wears a traditional head covering and a patterned dress. Trees and a building suggest a rural setting. The layout is horizontal, with the woman as the central element before the landscape.

Context

Gauguin made this etching during his time in Tahiti, where he lived from 1891 to 1893. It belongs to a series of prints he created after returning to France in 1894. The 1963 impression comes from a later, posthumously produced edition.

Impact

The monochrome execution and delicate lines evoke a calm, contemplative mood. Portrait and landscape merge into a narrative depth characteristic of Gauguin's South Seas works.

Technique

The etching features even line work and avoids shading. Varying line thickness points to a nuanced etching technique. The paper size exceeds the plate mark, indicating a wide margin.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)