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Lot Essay
GAUGUIN LEFT FRANCE FOR TAHITI IN JULY 1895. HE LIVED IN TAHITI UNTIL SEPTEMBER 10, 1901, WHEN HE SAILED FOR THE MARQUESAS ON THE STEAMSHIP CROIX DU SUD AND HE REMAINED IN THE VILLAGE OF ATUONA ON THE REMOTE MARQUESAS ISLAND OF HIVAOA, UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1903. ON 27 SEPTEMBER 1901 HE PURCHASED A PLOT OF LAND IN THE CENTRE OF ATUONA FROM THE CATHOLIC MISSION AND BEGAN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIS CELEBRATED 'MAISON DU JOUIR', WITH ALL HIS ELABORATE INTERIOR DECORATIONS.
IN HIS FINAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY, AVANT ET APRèS, WRITTEN IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY OF 1903, GAUGUIN RECALLED HIS ARRIVAL ON HIVAOA:
'THERE I WAS, WHEN I TOLD MYSELF IT WAS TIME TO TAKE OFF FOR A SIMPLE COUNTRY, WITH FEW CIVIL SERVANTS. AND I INTENDED TO PACK MY TRUNKS TO GO TO THE MARQUESAS. THEY PROMISED LAND, MORE LAND THAN ONE KNEW WHAT TO DO WITH, MEAT, POULTRY, AND, TO TAKE YOU AROUND HERE AND THERE, A GENDARME GENTLE AS A LAMB. IN THIS FASHION, WITH A CAREFREE HEART, CONFIDENT AS A LOCKED-IN VIRGIN, I TOOK THE BOAT AND ARRIVED SERENELY IN ATUONA, COUNTY SEAT OF HIVA-OA ... FIRST OF ALL, THE NEWS UPON MY ARRIVAL WAS THAT THERE WAS NO LAND WHATEVER FOR SALE OR FOR RENT, EXCEPT FROM THE MISSION, AND PERHAPS NOT EVEN THERE. THE BISHOP WAS AWAY, AND I HAD TO WAIT A MONTH; MY TRUNKS AND A LOAD OF TIMBER REMAINED ON THE BEACH. DURING THAT MONTH I ATTENDED MASS EVERY SUNDAY ... MY REPUTATION WAS MADE, AND HIS EMINENCE, WITH NO INKLING OF MY HYPOCRISY, WAS WILLING TO SELL ME A SMALL LOT FILLED WITH PEBBLES AND BRUSH, FOR A PRICE OF 650 FRANCS. I SET COURAGEOUSLY TO WORK, AND THANKS AGAIN TO SOME MEN RECOMMENDED BY THE BISHOP, I WAS QUICKLY SETTLED IN' (QUOTED IN M. PRATHER AND C. F. STUCKEY, GAUGUIN: A RETROSPECTIVE, NEW YORK, 1987, P. 297).
CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE IS A FINE EXAMPLE OF GAUGUIN'S EQUESTRIAN PICTURES EXECUTED IN HIVAOA. GAUGUIN DEPICTED NATIVE HORSE RIDERS IN SEVERAL HIVAOAN PAINTINGS, INCLUDING LA FUITE (W. 597; HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST. PETERSBURG), CAVALIERS SUR LA PLAGE I (FIG. 1), AND CAVALIERS SUR LA PLAGE II (W. 620). IN A DISCUSSION OF LA FUITE, RICHARD BRETTEL COMMENTS:
'[LA FUITE] IS ONLY ONE OF SEVERAL IMAGES OF MEN ON HORSES PAINTED BY GAUGUIN IN THE LAST THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE ... VIRTUALLY ALL OF THESE HAVE RESONANCE IN WESTERN ART, AND THE SOURCES VARY FROM THE PARTHENON TO DRER TO DEGAS. GAUGUIN MIGHT ALSO HAVE REMEMBERED THE TWO WONDERFUL SETS OF WOODBLOCK PRINTS ILLUSTRATING POEMS ABOUT HORSEMEN PUBLISHED IN L'YMAGIER IN 1894 AND 1895. YET HORSES ABOUNDED ON THE MARQUESAN ISLANDS. GAUGUIN HIMSELF OWNED A HORSE AND A HORSETRAP IN ATUONA, AND SEEING THEM EVERY DAY MUST SURELY ACCOUNT FOR THEIR SUDDEN DOMINANCE IN HIS ART.' (R. BRETTELL, EXH. CAT., THE ART OF PAUL GAUGUIN, NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., 1988, P. 460.)
THE PRESENT WORK REVEALS GAUGUIN'S CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH DEGAS, AND IN PARTICULAR HIS FASCINATION WITH THE RACECOURSE PICTURES WHICH THE LATTER EXECUTED FROM THE LATE 1860S ONWARDS. DEGAS WAS A FUNDAMENTAL SUPPORTER OF AND IMPORTANT INFLUENCE ON GAUGUIN; HE PURCHASED SEVERAL PAINTINGS AT THE SALE HELD AT THE HôTEL DROUOT IN PARIS IN 1895 WHICH FUNDED GAUGUIN'S TRIP TO TAHITI. INDEED, DEGAS IS THE CONTEMPORARY ARTIST MOST FREQUENTLY MENTIONED IN AVANT ET APRèS. CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE BEARS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO DEGAS'S JOCKEYS AVANT LA COURSE OF CIRCA 1881 (FIG. 2). BOTH WORKS REVOLVE AROUND THE PROMINENT POSITIONING OF THE RACEPOST/TREE TRUNK BEHIND WHICH THE HORSERIDER EMERGES, WHILE THE FLAT BLOCKS OF COLOUR AND THE ELEVATED PERSPECTIVE IN CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE RECALL THE JAPANESE WOODCUTS WHICH WERE A MAJOR SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR GAUGUIN WHEN HE LIVED IN BRITTANY IN THE LATE 1880S. OTHER CAVALIER WORKS BY GAUGUIN HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE INTIMATELY RELATED TO SPECIFIC PAINTINGS BY DEGAS: CAVALIERS SUR LA PLAGE II, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS BEEN VARIOUSLY LINKED TO DEGAS'S CHEVAUX DE COURSES à LONGCHAMP OF 1873-1875 (L. 334; MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON), AVANT LA COURSE OF CIRCA 1886 (L. 878; PRIVATE COLLECTION) AND L'ENTRAINEMENT OF 1894 (L. 1145; PRIVATE COLLECTION).
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRESENT PAINTING IS SOMETHING OF A MYSTERY. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS GAUGUIN CHOSE TO PAINT THE MOTIF OF A MAN ON HORSEBACK, SPECIALLY IN THE LAST THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE. CAVALIERS (W.597, PUSKIN STATE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, MOSCOW), PAINTED IN 1901, IS ONE OF THEM. THE HORSE OF CAVALIERS IS TO BE CONNECTED TO DRER'S FAMOUS ETCHING KNIGHT, DEATH, AND THE DEVIL OF WHICH GAUGUIN OWNED A REPRODUCTION. IT CAN ALSO BE RELATED TO SOME FIGURES THE PARTHENON FRIEZE. GAUGUIN TRANSFORMED THE WESTERN IMAGES OF DEATH ON HORSE INTO A POLYNESIAN DEVIL OR TUPAPAU, THE 'SPIRIT OF DEATH' WHO LEADS A YOUNG MAN ACCROSS A STREAM INTO THE LAND BEYOND DEATH. HOWEVER, THE BRIGHT COLOURS AND THE INCLUSION OF A FEMALE FIGURE AND DOMESTIC DWELLING IN THE PRESENT WORK ENDOW IT WITH A MUCH MORE OPTIMISTIC CHARACTER, PERHAPS REFLECTING THE FREEDOM AND PERSONAL HAPPINESS WHICH GAUGUIN FOUND IN HIS 'MAISON DU JOUIR' WITH HIS NEW VAHINE, MARIE-ROSE VAEOHO. A MONOTYPE OF THE SAME SUBJECT, WITHOUT THE RIDER, ALSO EXISTS. GEORGES WILDENSTEIN HAS ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE FIGURE OF THE RIDER CAN BE SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND OF DEGAS'S DEUX FEMMES OF 1902.
THROUGH HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH DEGAS, GAUGUIN CAME INTO CONTACT WITH THE CELEBRATED ART DEALER AMBROISE VOLLARD, ON WHOM HE WAS TO RELY FINANCIALLY FOR THE LAST SEVEN YEARS OF HIS LIFE. IT WAS VOLLARD WHO WAS CHIEFLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ESTABLISHING THE ARTIST'S PRESTIGIOUS REPUTATION:
'IN 1896, POSSIBLY ACTING ON THE ADVICE OF DEGAS, VOLLARD WROTE TO GAUGUIN IN TAHITI AND NEGOTIATED A CONTRACT WITH HIM, WHEREBY VOLLARD WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO GAUGUIN'S COMPLETE OUTPUT IN RETURN FOR A MONTHLY STIPEND. VOLLARD WAS CONVINCED THAT GAUGUIN'S WORKS WERE SO GOOD THAT THEY MUST EVENTUALLY SELL, EVEN THOUGH MOST ART CRITICS SNEERED AT GAUGUIN'S BRIGHT COLORS AND FAUX-PRIMITIF STYLE. VOLLARD'S ENTHUSIASM AND PROFESSIONALISM, LIKE THAT OF PAUL DURAND-RUEL, PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN FORMING A TASTE FOR AVANT-GARDE ART AMONG COLLECTORS AND BREAKING THE POWER OF THE SALON. ALONG WITH HIS RIVALS, BOUSSOD ET VALADON, KNOEDLER, GEORGES PETIT, AND EVENTUALLY HIS NEIGHBORS BERNHEIM-JEUNE, VOLLARD'S MANY SUCCESSFUL ONE-MAN SHOWS DID MUCH TO INCREASE THE IMPRESSIONISTS' AND NEO-IMPRESSIONISTS' REPUTATIONS' (S. DE VRIES-EVANS, THE IMPRESSIONISTS REVEALED: MASTERPIECES FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, LONDON, 1992, PP. 168-169).
VOLLARD STAGED A MAJOR EXHIBITION OF GAUGUIN'S WORK IN 1903 IN HIS GALLERY IN PARIS, AND SELECTED CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE, ALONG WITH THREE OTHER CAVALIER PICTURES, FOR INCLUSION IN IT. OPENING IN NOVEMBER, FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE ARTIST'S DEATH, THE EXHIBITION WAS AN OUTSTANDING SUCCESS, WINNING GAUGUIN IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM. PICASSO, FOR EXAMPLE, PRAISED THE CRUDE STRENGTH OF THE WOODCUTS THAT WERE EXHIBITED. MATISSE WAS GREATLY IMPRESSED BY THE STRIKING COLOUR JUXTAPOSITIONS AND THE SEEMINGLY CASUAL DRAUGHTSMANSHIP OF THE OIL PAINTINGS; IN FACT, THE FIRST TWO WORKS WHICH HE PURCHASED FROM VOLLARD WERE BY CéZANNE AND GAUGUIN.
CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE HAS AN INTERESTING HISTORY. THE WILDENSTEIN INSTITUTE'S CATALOGUE RAISONNé OF GAUGUIN'S WORK, PUBLISHED IN 1964, LISTS THE WORK AS 'DISPARU'; IT WAS UNKNOWN TO THEM EXCEPT THROUGH THE PHOTOGRAPH WITH WHICH IT IS ILLUSTRATED. SOON AFTER GAUGUIN COMPLETED THE PAINTING IT PASSED INTO THE HANDS OF VOLLARD IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AGREEMENT OF 1896; FOLLOWING ITS APPEARANCE IN VOLLARD'S EXHIBITION OF 1903 IT WAS ACQUIRED BY CHRISTIAN DE GALéA. OTHER PAINTINGS BY GAUGUIN FORMERLY IN THE GALéA FAMILY COLLECTION INCLUDE ENFANTS LUTTANT (W. 273; PRIVATE COLLECTION) AND LA CABANE DU DOUANIER (W. 283; PRIVATE COLLECTION), BOTH OF 1888, AND CLOVIS OF 1886 (W. 187; NEWARK MUSEUM). THE PRESENT PAINTING REMAINED WITH THE GALéA FAMILY UNTIL IT WAS ACQUIRED BY THE CURRENT OWNER IN 1977; SINCE THE VOLLARD EXHIBITION THE WORK HAS BEEN SEEN ONLY TWICE IN MUSEUM SHOWS, IN JAPAN IN 1969 AND AT THE MUSéE GAUGUIN IN TAHITI IN 1976.
IN HIS FINAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY, AVANT ET APRèS, WRITTEN IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY OF 1903, GAUGUIN RECALLED HIS ARRIVAL ON HIVAOA:
'THERE I WAS, WHEN I TOLD MYSELF IT WAS TIME TO TAKE OFF FOR A SIMPLE COUNTRY, WITH FEW CIVIL SERVANTS. AND I INTENDED TO PACK MY TRUNKS TO GO TO THE MARQUESAS. THEY PROMISED LAND, MORE LAND THAN ONE KNEW WHAT TO DO WITH, MEAT, POULTRY, AND, TO TAKE YOU AROUND HERE AND THERE, A GENDARME GENTLE AS A LAMB. IN THIS FASHION, WITH A CAREFREE HEART, CONFIDENT AS A LOCKED-IN VIRGIN, I TOOK THE BOAT AND ARRIVED SERENELY IN ATUONA, COUNTY SEAT OF HIVA-OA ... FIRST OF ALL, THE NEWS UPON MY ARRIVAL WAS THAT THERE WAS NO LAND WHATEVER FOR SALE OR FOR RENT, EXCEPT FROM THE MISSION, AND PERHAPS NOT EVEN THERE. THE BISHOP WAS AWAY, AND I HAD TO WAIT A MONTH; MY TRUNKS AND A LOAD OF TIMBER REMAINED ON THE BEACH. DURING THAT MONTH I ATTENDED MASS EVERY SUNDAY ... MY REPUTATION WAS MADE, AND HIS EMINENCE, WITH NO INKLING OF MY HYPOCRISY, WAS WILLING TO SELL ME A SMALL LOT FILLED WITH PEBBLES AND BRUSH, FOR A PRICE OF 650 FRANCS. I SET COURAGEOUSLY TO WORK, AND THANKS AGAIN TO SOME MEN RECOMMENDED BY THE BISHOP, I WAS QUICKLY SETTLED IN' (QUOTED IN M. PRATHER AND C. F. STUCKEY, GAUGUIN: A RETROSPECTIVE, NEW YORK, 1987, P. 297).
CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE IS A FINE EXAMPLE OF GAUGUIN'S EQUESTRIAN PICTURES EXECUTED IN HIVAOA. GAUGUIN DEPICTED NATIVE HORSE RIDERS IN SEVERAL HIVAOAN PAINTINGS, INCLUDING LA FUITE (W. 597; HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST. PETERSBURG), CAVALIERS SUR LA PLAGE I (FIG. 1), AND CAVALIERS SUR LA PLAGE II (W. 620). IN A DISCUSSION OF LA FUITE, RICHARD BRETTEL COMMENTS:
'[LA FUITE] IS ONLY ONE OF SEVERAL IMAGES OF MEN ON HORSES PAINTED BY GAUGUIN IN THE LAST THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE ... VIRTUALLY ALL OF THESE HAVE RESONANCE IN WESTERN ART, AND THE SOURCES VARY FROM THE PARTHENON TO DRER TO DEGAS. GAUGUIN MIGHT ALSO HAVE REMEMBERED THE TWO WONDERFUL SETS OF WOODBLOCK PRINTS ILLUSTRATING POEMS ABOUT HORSEMEN PUBLISHED IN L'YMAGIER IN 1894 AND 1895. YET HORSES ABOUNDED ON THE MARQUESAN ISLANDS. GAUGUIN HIMSELF OWNED A HORSE AND A HORSETRAP IN ATUONA, AND SEEING THEM EVERY DAY MUST SURELY ACCOUNT FOR THEIR SUDDEN DOMINANCE IN HIS ART.' (R. BRETTELL, EXH. CAT., THE ART OF PAUL GAUGUIN, NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., 1988, P. 460.)
THE PRESENT WORK REVEALS GAUGUIN'S CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH DEGAS, AND IN PARTICULAR HIS FASCINATION WITH THE RACECOURSE PICTURES WHICH THE LATTER EXECUTED FROM THE LATE 1860S ONWARDS. DEGAS WAS A FUNDAMENTAL SUPPORTER OF AND IMPORTANT INFLUENCE ON GAUGUIN; HE PURCHASED SEVERAL PAINTINGS AT THE SALE HELD AT THE HôTEL DROUOT IN PARIS IN 1895 WHICH FUNDED GAUGUIN'S TRIP TO TAHITI. INDEED, DEGAS IS THE CONTEMPORARY ARTIST MOST FREQUENTLY MENTIONED IN AVANT ET APRèS. CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE BEARS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO DEGAS'S JOCKEYS AVANT LA COURSE OF CIRCA 1881 (FIG. 2). BOTH WORKS REVOLVE AROUND THE PROMINENT POSITIONING OF THE RACEPOST/TREE TRUNK BEHIND WHICH THE HORSERIDER EMERGES, WHILE THE FLAT BLOCKS OF COLOUR AND THE ELEVATED PERSPECTIVE IN CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE RECALL THE JAPANESE WOODCUTS WHICH WERE A MAJOR SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR GAUGUIN WHEN HE LIVED IN BRITTANY IN THE LATE 1880S. OTHER CAVALIER WORKS BY GAUGUIN HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE INTIMATELY RELATED TO SPECIFIC PAINTINGS BY DEGAS: CAVALIERS SUR LA PLAGE II, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS BEEN VARIOUSLY LINKED TO DEGAS'S CHEVAUX DE COURSES à LONGCHAMP OF 1873-1875 (L. 334; MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON), AVANT LA COURSE OF CIRCA 1886 (L. 878; PRIVATE COLLECTION) AND L'ENTRAINEMENT OF 1894 (L. 1145; PRIVATE COLLECTION).
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRESENT PAINTING IS SOMETHING OF A MYSTERY. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS GAUGUIN CHOSE TO PAINT THE MOTIF OF A MAN ON HORSEBACK, SPECIALLY IN THE LAST THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE. CAVALIERS (W.597, PUSKIN STATE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, MOSCOW), PAINTED IN 1901, IS ONE OF THEM. THE HORSE OF CAVALIERS IS TO BE CONNECTED TO DRER'S FAMOUS ETCHING KNIGHT, DEATH, AND THE DEVIL OF WHICH GAUGUIN OWNED A REPRODUCTION. IT CAN ALSO BE RELATED TO SOME FIGURES THE PARTHENON FRIEZE. GAUGUIN TRANSFORMED THE WESTERN IMAGES OF DEATH ON HORSE INTO A POLYNESIAN DEVIL OR TUPAPAU, THE 'SPIRIT OF DEATH' WHO LEADS A YOUNG MAN ACCROSS A STREAM INTO THE LAND BEYOND DEATH. HOWEVER, THE BRIGHT COLOURS AND THE INCLUSION OF A FEMALE FIGURE AND DOMESTIC DWELLING IN THE PRESENT WORK ENDOW IT WITH A MUCH MORE OPTIMISTIC CHARACTER, PERHAPS REFLECTING THE FREEDOM AND PERSONAL HAPPINESS WHICH GAUGUIN FOUND IN HIS 'MAISON DU JOUIR' WITH HIS NEW VAHINE, MARIE-ROSE VAEOHO. A MONOTYPE OF THE SAME SUBJECT, WITHOUT THE RIDER, ALSO EXISTS. GEORGES WILDENSTEIN HAS ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE FIGURE OF THE RIDER CAN BE SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND OF DEGAS'S DEUX FEMMES OF 1902.
THROUGH HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH DEGAS, GAUGUIN CAME INTO CONTACT WITH THE CELEBRATED ART DEALER AMBROISE VOLLARD, ON WHOM HE WAS TO RELY FINANCIALLY FOR THE LAST SEVEN YEARS OF HIS LIFE. IT WAS VOLLARD WHO WAS CHIEFLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ESTABLISHING THE ARTIST'S PRESTIGIOUS REPUTATION:
'IN 1896, POSSIBLY ACTING ON THE ADVICE OF DEGAS, VOLLARD WROTE TO GAUGUIN IN TAHITI AND NEGOTIATED A CONTRACT WITH HIM, WHEREBY VOLLARD WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO GAUGUIN'S COMPLETE OUTPUT IN RETURN FOR A MONTHLY STIPEND. VOLLARD WAS CONVINCED THAT GAUGUIN'S WORKS WERE SO GOOD THAT THEY MUST EVENTUALLY SELL, EVEN THOUGH MOST ART CRITICS SNEERED AT GAUGUIN'S BRIGHT COLORS AND FAUX-PRIMITIF STYLE. VOLLARD'S ENTHUSIASM AND PROFESSIONALISM, LIKE THAT OF PAUL DURAND-RUEL, PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN FORMING A TASTE FOR AVANT-GARDE ART AMONG COLLECTORS AND BREAKING THE POWER OF THE SALON. ALONG WITH HIS RIVALS, BOUSSOD ET VALADON, KNOEDLER, GEORGES PETIT, AND EVENTUALLY HIS NEIGHBORS BERNHEIM-JEUNE, VOLLARD'S MANY SUCCESSFUL ONE-MAN SHOWS DID MUCH TO INCREASE THE IMPRESSIONISTS' AND NEO-IMPRESSIONISTS' REPUTATIONS' (S. DE VRIES-EVANS, THE IMPRESSIONISTS REVEALED: MASTERPIECES FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, LONDON, 1992, PP. 168-169).
VOLLARD STAGED A MAJOR EXHIBITION OF GAUGUIN'S WORK IN 1903 IN HIS GALLERY IN PARIS, AND SELECTED CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE, ALONG WITH THREE OTHER CAVALIER PICTURES, FOR INCLUSION IN IT. OPENING IN NOVEMBER, FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE ARTIST'S DEATH, THE EXHIBITION WAS AN OUTSTANDING SUCCESS, WINNING GAUGUIN IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM. PICASSO, FOR EXAMPLE, PRAISED THE CRUDE STRENGTH OF THE WOODCUTS THAT WERE EXHIBITED. MATISSE WAS GREATLY IMPRESSED BY THE STRIKING COLOUR JUXTAPOSITIONS AND THE SEEMINGLY CASUAL DRAUGHTSMANSHIP OF THE OIL PAINTINGS; IN FACT, THE FIRST TWO WORKS WHICH HE PURCHASED FROM VOLLARD WERE BY CéZANNE AND GAUGUIN.
CAVALIER DEVANT LA CASE HAS AN INTERESTING HISTORY. THE WILDENSTEIN INSTITUTE'S CATALOGUE RAISONNé OF GAUGUIN'S WORK, PUBLISHED IN 1964, LISTS THE WORK AS 'DISPARU'; IT WAS UNKNOWN TO THEM EXCEPT THROUGH THE PHOTOGRAPH WITH WHICH IT IS ILLUSTRATED. SOON AFTER GAUGUIN COMPLETED THE PAINTING IT PASSED INTO THE HANDS OF VOLLARD IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AGREEMENT OF 1896; FOLLOWING ITS APPEARANCE IN VOLLARD'S EXHIBITION OF 1903 IT WAS ACQUIRED BY CHRISTIAN DE GALéA. OTHER PAINTINGS BY GAUGUIN FORMERLY IN THE GALéA FAMILY COLLECTION INCLUDE ENFANTS LUTTANT (W. 273; PRIVATE COLLECTION) AND LA CABANE DU DOUANIER (W. 283; PRIVATE COLLECTION), BOTH OF 1888, AND CLOVIS OF 1886 (W. 187; NEWARK MUSEUM). THE PRESENT PAINTING REMAINED WITH THE GALéA FAMILY UNTIL IT WAS ACQUIRED BY THE CURRENT OWNER IN 1977; SINCE THE VOLLARD EXHIBITION THE WORK HAS BEEN SEEN ONLY TWICE IN MUSEUM SHOWS, IN JAPAN IN 1969 AND AT THE MUSéE GAUGUIN IN TAHITI IN 1976.