Te atua (The God), from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints - Paul Gauguin

Gift of the Print and Drawing Club

"Te atua (The God), from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints" by Paul Gauguin (1898/99) Wood-block print in black ink, with yellow ocher ink offset, on thin ivory Japanese paper, laid face down on ivory wove paper (recto); wood-block print in brownish-black ink on ivory wove paper (verso).

Commentary

"Te atua (The God), 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 collection's Prints and Dr awings 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 yellow ocher ink offset, on thin ivory Japanese paper, laid face down on ivory wove paper (recto); wood-block print in brownish-black ink on ivory wove paper (verso)) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 24.3 × 22.2 cm (9 5/8 × 8 3/4 in.); Sheet: 24.3 × 22.2 cm (9 5/8 × 8 3/4 in.); Secondary support: 24.3 × 22.2 cm (9 5/8 × 8 3/4 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/52987

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