Seated Tahitian Woman (related to the painting Te faaturuma [Reverie]) - Paul Gauguin

Margaret Day Blake Collection

"Seated Tahitian Woman (related to the painting Te faaturuma [Reverie])" by Paul Gauguin (1891/93) Charcoal on cream wove paper (discolored to tan).

Commentary

"Seated Tahitian Woman (related to the painting Te faaturuma [Reverie])" by Paul Gauguin (1891/93) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Themes to notice include drawings (visual wo rks). 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 drawings (visual works), which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Charcoal on cream wove paper (discolored to tan)) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (55.5 × 48 cm (21 7/8 × 18 15/16 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include drawings (visual works). Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/188750

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