Manao tupapau (She Thinks of the Ghost or The Ghost Thinks of Her) - Paul Gauguin

John H. Wrenn Fund

European Art Modern Art Paintings Prints

"Manao tupapau (She Thinks of the Ghost or The Ghost Thinks of Her)" by Paul Gauguin (1894/95) Wood-block print in black ink with brush and stencil-applied red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and brown watercolors on ivory Japanese paper, laid down on cream Japanese paper.

Commentary

"Manao tupapau (She Thinks of the Ghost or The Ghost Thinks of Her)" 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 nar rative alone. Themes 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 (Wood-block print in black ink with brush and stencil-applied red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and brown watercolors on ivory Japanese paper, laid down on cream Japanese paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 22.7 × 52.2 cm (8 15/16 × 20 9/16 in.); Sheet: 23.2 × 57.2 cm (9 3/16 × 22 9/16 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/55504

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