Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary)
1891
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
44 3/4 x 34 1/2 in. (113.7 x 87.6 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Sam A. Lewisohn, 1951
Accession Number
51.112.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Ia Orana Maria (ail Mary)**, painted by Paul Gauguin 1891, marks the artist's bold arrival in Tahiti, where he sought escape from European civilization and inspiration in Polynesian life. Fresh off his voyage, Gauguin created this oil canvas as his first major work from the island, blending Christian iconography with the vibrant tropical world he encountered. The title, Tahitian for "Hail Mary," reimagines the biblical Annunciation: the Virgin Mary, depicted as a serene Polynesian woman cradling the infant Jesus, is greeted by an angel, while two Tahitian women gesture in wonder amid lush la...
About the Artist
Paul Gauguin · 1848–1903
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose bold experiments with color, form, and subject matter made him one of the most influential figures in the transition from 19th-century art to modernism. His rejection of European civilization for the perceived authenticity of 'primitive' cultures established an archetype of artistic exile that continues to resonate. Gauguin's ...