Color woodcut on thin Japan paper
France, circa 1899 (printed in 1995)
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) – French Post-Impressionist artist
Numbered in pencil lower right 84/100’
Printed by Luc Guérin, Paris
Published by des Amis du Musée Gaugin, Tahiti
With the original cloth slip cover and title page
Kornfeld 53
Full margins
Dimensions: 9 1/2 x 9 in. (24 x 22.75 cm.)
Very good condition
Estimate $1,200-$2,400

Gaugin created this woodcut after he traveled to Tahiti in the early 1890s. There, he found inspiration in Oceanic art. The composition, in particular the placement of the central figure, is inspired by Oceanic sculpture. The title of the woodcut, “Te Atua” loosely translates to “God” or “The Gods” in Maori. Maori is closely related to the Tahitian language.

Executed in 1988 and printed in 1955, this color woodcut on thin Japan paper is numbered in eighty-four from an edition of one hundred. The dimensions of the piece are 9 ½ x 9 inches. The piece is in overall good condition with no evidence of tears or repairs.

Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903)

Paul Gauguin was born in 1848 in Paris of a Breton father and a Peruvian Creole mother. As a small child, Paul was taken to Peru to live with an eccentric but affectionate great-uncle, Don Pio Tristan until he was six, when his mother took him back to France. Lacking a formal education, he left the French Navy and settled in Paris, occasionally painting. There, he earned a comfortable living in a banking house. After meeting the painter Pissarro in 1883, Gauguin left the stock market and became a professional painter. With the help of Theo Van Gogh, Vincent’s art dealer brother, Gauguin traveled to Arles to stay with Vincent at his request. Eventually Gauguin left Paris for Tahiti, which would up being the inspiration for what was to be many paintings, drawings and prints influenced by Tahitian art.

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