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Lot Essay
There are two impressions of the Reclining Tahitian monotype: the complete impression recorded in the Field (op. cit, p. 60) as being in an American private collection, and the second impression cut into several smaller sheets and used to print impressions of Oviri, as here.
Another fragmentary impression, similarly bearing an impression of Oviri on the reverse, is in the Art Institute of Chicago, Clarence Buckingham Collection.
For Gauguin, as for his earlier mentors, Pissarro and Degas, experimentation in printmaking was of paramount importance. Here clearly lacking the necessary paper for printing the woodcut, he has resorted to using a slightly earlier monotype as a support. As a result, this one sheet combines the two great themes of his Tahitian sojourn, the passivity of the population and the savage mystery of their Gods.
Another fragmentary impression, similarly bearing an impression of Oviri on the reverse, is in the Art Institute of Chicago, Clarence Buckingham Collection.
For Gauguin, as for his earlier mentors, Pissarro and Degas, experimentation in printmaking was of paramount importance. Here clearly lacking the necessary paper for printing the woodcut, he has resorted to using a slightly earlier monotype as a support. As a result, this one sheet combines the two great themes of his Tahitian sojourn, the passivity of the population and the savage mystery of their Gods.