Tahitian Carrying Bananas, from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints - Paul Gauguin

Gift of the Print and Drawing Club

"Tahitian Carrying Bananas, from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints" by Paul Gauguin (1898/99) Wood-block print in black ink on thin ivory Japanese paper, tipped on thin white Japanese paper.

Commentary

"Tahitian Carrying Bananas, from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints" by Paul Gauguin (1898/99) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Themes to notice include woodcut. This piece is held in the source c ollection'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 on thin ivory Japanese paper, tipped on thin white Japanese paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 16.1 × 27.5 cm (6 3/8 × 10 7/8 in.); Primary support: 18.3 × 27.6 cm (7 1/4 × 10 7/8 in.); Secondary support: 18.6 × 27.6 cm (7 3/8 × 10 7/8 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/30503

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