Le Sourire;Taiti (Smile; Tahiti)
December 1899
Medium
woodcut on transparent laid tissue paper
Dimensions
5 3/8 x 8 9/16 in. (13.7 x 21.8 cm): trimmed to image
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1936
Accession Number
36.11.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the waning months of 1899, Paul Gauguin, the pioneering Post-Impressionist, created *Le Sourire; Tahiti (Smile; Tah)* during his second sojourn in French Polynesia. Deeply immersed in Tahitian culture, Gauguin sought capture the island's exotic beauty and spiritual essence, fleeing the constraints of European society. This intimate woodcut, trimmed to its image at just 5 3/8 x 8 9/16 inches, evokes a serene yet enigmatic scene likely featuring birds and horses amid lush surroundings, with a titular "smile" hinting at joyful or mystical native life. Gauguin's mastery shines in his self-carv...
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 ...