Maruru
1893–94
Medium
Woodcut on China paper
Dimensions
block: 8 x 14 in. (20.3 x 35.6 cm) sheet: 10 3/8 x 17 in. (26.4 x 43.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1921
Accession Number
21.38.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Maruru**, a captivating woodcut created by Paul Gauguin between 1893 and 1894, offers a glimpse into the artist's immersive experience in Tahiti. Printed on delicate China paper, this intimate work measures about 8 by 14 inches and depicts a serene South Seas scene with human figures, thatched houses, and lush trees. Gauguin, a Post-Impressionist pioneer, captured the exotic simplicity of Polynesian village life, drawing from his time on the island where he sought inspiration away from European conventions. During his first Tahitian sojourn (1891–93), Gauguin experimented boldly with printm...
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 ...