Te atua (The God), from the Noa Noa Suite
1893/94
Medium
Wood-block print in black ink on tan wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 20.3 × 35.4 cm (8 × 13 15/16 in.); Sheet: 20.7 × 35.8 cm (8 3/16 × 14 1/8 in.)
Classification
woodcut
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
45041
Art Historical Context
**Te atua (The God from the Noa No Suite** *Paul Gauguin, 1893/94* Wood-block print in black on tan wove paper*Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings* Paul Gauguin's *Te atua (The God captures the mystical allure of Tahitian spirituality, created shortly after his transformative first voyage to the South Pacific in 1891–93. Part of the rare *Noa Noa Suite*—a series of just 10 woodcuts hand-printed by the artist upon his return to France—this image draws from Gauguin's journal *Noa Noa* ("fragrant" in Tahitian), blending personal reverie with Polynesian mythology. "Te atua" translat...
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 ...