Mahana atua (Day of the God) - Paul Gauguin

Clarence Buckingham Collection

European Art Modern Art Paintings Prints

"Mahana atua (Day of the God)" by Paul Gauguin (1894/95) Wood-block print in black ink with touches of solvent-thinned blue, red, and orange watercolors (recto); wood-block print, printed twice in brown and brown-black ink (a maculature impression) (verso), on cream Japanese paper.

Commentary

"Mahana atua (Day of the God)" by Paul Gauguin (1894/95) 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. Themes to notice incl ude 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 (Wood-block print in black ink with touches of solvent-thinned blue, red, and orange watercolors (recto); wood-block print, printed twice in brown and brown-black ink (a maculature impression) (verso), on cream Japanese paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 18 × 20.3 cm (7 1/8 × 8 in.); Sheet: 18.4 × 20.5 cm (7 1/4 × 8 1/8 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/63074

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