Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903), , Famille Tahitienne

Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903)
Famille Tahitienne
Pencil signed with initials 'P.G.0' bottom left; also illegibly inscribed [in French] 'Epreuve unique/de Gauguin/AC' [?] bottom left, monotype and graphite on paper
Sheet size: 16 3/4 10 1/4 in. (41.3 x 26cm)
Executed circa 1902.
PROVENANCE:
Wildenstein & Co., New York, New York.
Acquired directly from the above in 1975.
Private Collection, New York, New York.
EXHIBITED:
" Paul Gauguin: Monotypes," Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 23-May 13, 1973, no. 98.
LITERATURE:
Richard S. Field, Paul Gauguin: Monotypes, an exhibition catalogue, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1973, no. 98, p.121 (illustrated).
NOTE:
Widely recognized as a major figure in 19th century art, Paul Gauguin is best known as a Post-Impressionist who specialized in vibrant paintings of Tahiti and its natives. He was also a sculptor and highly accomplished printmaker, producing a large and diverse body of prints that includes woodcuts, lithographs, zincographs, drypoint etchings, and, as in the present work, monotypes. The monotype is a hybrid of sorts, occupying a unique space between printmaking and drawing. Indeed, Gauguin himself referred to his works in this medium as "printed drawings" (Richard S. Field, Paul Gauguin: Monotypes, Philadelphia Museum of Art, exhibition catalogue).
Gauguin's first reference to monotypes is found in a letter of 1900 to the young Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard, in which he describes them as "experiments," writing: "I have just done a series of experiments in drawings with which I am fairly well pleased, and I am sending you a tiny sample. It looks like a print but it isn't" (Field, op. cit.). Gauguin would periodically send these "experiments" to Vollard, who offered them for sale, along with the artist's paintings, at his eponymous art gallery on rue Lafitte, then the nexus of the contemporary art world in Paris.
In order to produce his monotypes, Gauguin applied printer's ink to a sheet of paper until it was covered, atop which a second sheet of paper was added and drawn upon, resulting in a line that varied with the hardness and thickness of the pencil (Field, op. cit.). This process, in which the free absorption of ink plays an integral role, yields an atmospheric image with a certain "patina of age" (Field, op. cit.).
While these elements are well represented in the present work, Gauguin's true intention in creating Famille Tahitienne is perhaps better explained by an analysis of its technical composition. As Field states, "There exists another sophisticated monotype (no. 98) (…) Its sensitivity to positive and negative forms, and its heavy, bolder line argue for a more developed stage than the torso…It was squared during the process of drawing, that is, the verso was squared in pencil, with the consequence that the recto appears squared in the monotype" (Field, op. cit.).
The process of "squaring," wonderfully visible on both sides of the present work, offers a fascinating glimpse into the mind of the artist at work. The main figure in the present monotype appears in three of Gauguin's works: La Soeur de Charité, 1902 (McNay Art Museum), Cavaliers sur la Plage II, 1902 (Fondation Beyeler, Basel); and in reverse in Famille Tahitienne, 1902 (Private Collection). This monotype offers a window into the creative process of one of the 19th century's most enigmatic artists, and is a pleasing, expressive image in its own right. Dimensions: