Te burao (The Hibiscus Tree)

Description

Completed early in Paul Gauguin’s first Tahitian sojourn, this landscape shows the artist grappling with representing an unfamiliar environment. Rather than documenting botanical species scientifically, Gauguin focused on the artistic potential of their variegated colors, textures, and forms. The human figure in the distance and the dog roaming through fallen branches activate the landscape and establish a sense of scale.

This is one of thirty-five works that comprise the Winterbotham Collection. Click here to learn more about the collection.

Provenance

Marius de Zayas, New York; sold his sale, The Anderson Galleries, New York, March 23–24, 1923, lot 83 for $3,000 to the Art Institute [price according to an annotated copy of the sale catalogue in the Ryerson Library, Art Institute]; purchased by the Art Institute with funds provided by Joseph Winterbotham for the Joseph Winterbotham Collection, 1923.

Te burao (The Hibiscus Tree)

Paul Gauguin

1892

Accession Number

8360

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

68 × 90.7 cm (26 3/4 × 35 11/16 in.); Framed: 86.4 × 109.3 × 8.9 cm (34 × 43 × 3 1/2 in.)

Classification

oil on canvas

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Joseph Winterbotham Collection