Oviri - Paul Gauguin

Print Sales Miscellaneous Fund

European Art Modern Art Paintings Prints

"Oviri" by Paul Gauguin (1894) Wood-block print, printed twice in deep-yellow ocher and brown ink, with touches of black watercolor, on cream wove paper (an imitation Japanese vellum), mounted on mottled blue wove laminate card (recto); wood-block print in black ink over red ink tone block, and brush and solvent-thinned orange wash, on cream wove paper (an imitation Japanese vellum) mounted on mottled blue wove laminate card (verso).

Commentary

"Oviri" by Paul Gauguin (1894) 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 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, printed twice in deep-yellow ocher and brown ink, with touches of black watercolor, on cream wove paper (an imitation Japanese vellum), mounted on mottled blue wove laminate card (recto); wood-block print in black ink over red ink tone block, and brush and solvent-thinned orange wash, on cream wove paper (an imitation Japanese vellum) mounted on mottled blue wove laminate card (verso)) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 20.5 × 11.9 cm (8 1/8 × 4 11/16 in.); Sheet: 20.7 × 12.1 cm (8 3/16 × 4 13/16 in.); Secondary support: 23 × 31.6 cm (9 1/16 × 12 1/2 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/61354

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