Manao tupapau (She Thinks of the Ghost or The Ghost Thinks of Her)
1894/95, printed 1928
Medium
Wood-block print in black ink on cream Japanese paper
Dimensions
Image: 17.3 × 12.7 cm (6 13/16 × 5 in.); Sheet: 25 × 17.8 cm (9 7/8 × 7 1/16 in.)
Classification
woodcut
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
63453
Art Historical Context
Paul Gauguin's *Manao tupapau (She Thinks of the or The Ghost Thinks Her)*, created around 1894–95 during his second stay in Tahiti, captures artist's fascination with Polynesian culture and mythology. This intimate woodcut depicts a reclining nude figure inspired by a Tahitian woman, evoking themes of fear, desire, and the supernatural—the ambiguous title in Tahitian suggests either "she thinks of the ghost" "the ghost thinks of." Gauguin, a Post-Impressionist pioneer, drew from his experiences in the South Seas to challenge European conventions, blending exoticism with spiritual introspectio...
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 ...