Head of a Tahitian Woman (Q60780768)

Label from: English (en)

view on Wikidata skip this artwork browse artworks
artist: Paul Gauguin (Q37693)
collection: Cleveland Museum of Art (Q657415)
location: Cleveland Museum of Art (Q657415)
instance of: drawing (Q93184)

catalog URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.439

information from the Cleveland Museum of Art catalog

description: This drawing belongs to a group of highly finished portrait drawings of Tahitians made by Paul Gauguin shortly after his arrival in the South Seas. While getting used to this new place, Gauguin initially avoided painting, preferring first to familiarize himself with the landscape and people through observation and drawing. The meticulous quality of this graphite study suggests that it was made from life. The woman’s noble face and enigmatic expression allude to the spirituality and melancholy that Gauguin sought to conjure in his Polynesian work.

Connect with Wikidata