Le sourire: Journal sérieux, Aug. 21, 1899 - Paul Gauguin

Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison Collection

European Art Modern Art Paintings Prints

"Le sourire: Journal sérieux, Aug. 21, 1899" by Paul Gauguin (1899) Mimeograph in brownish-black ink with touches of pink watercolor, and wood-block print in ocher ink, on cream wove paper.

Commentary

"Le sourire: Journal sérieux, Aug. 21, 1899" by Paul Gauguin (1899) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Its painted surface guides your eye through color, brushwork, and contrast rather than through narrative alone. Them es to notice include woodcut. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Paul Gauguin is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903. The work is cataloged within a France cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as woodcut, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Mimeograph in brownish-black ink with touches of pink watercolor, and wood-block print in ocher ink, on cream wove paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Printed monogram: Diam.: 3.2 cm (1 5/16 in.); Full sheet: 38.3 × 49.7 cm (15 1/8 × 19 5/8 in.); Folded sheet: 38.3 × 25 cm (15 1/8 × 9 7/8 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include woodcut. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/110834

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data