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.
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
Credit Line
Joseph Winterbotham Collection