Man with an Ax - Paul Gauguin

Gift of Edward McCormick Blair

European Art Modern Art Paintings Prints

"Man with an Ax" by Paul Gauguin (1891/93) Thinned gouache, with pen and black ink, over pen and brown ink, on cream wove paper (discolored to tan), laid down on cream Japanese paper.

Commentary

"Man with an Ax" by Paul Gauguin (1891/93) 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 inc lude pen and ink drawings. 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 pen and ink drawings, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Thinned gouache, with pen and black ink, over pen and brown ink, on cream wove paper (discolored to tan), laid down on cream Japanese paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image/primary/secondary support: 31.7 × 22.8 cm (12 1/2 × 9 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include pen and ink drawings. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/159076

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