Street in Tahiti
Artist: Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903)
Date: 1891
Dimensions:
Painting: 45 1/2 × 34 7/8 in. (115.6 × 88.6 cm)
Frame: 57 1/2 × 45 3/4 × 5 1/2 in. (146.1 × 116.2 × 14 cm)
Medium: oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1939.82
Label Text:The vibrant colors of Paul Gauguin’s painting express his intense reaction to the mysteries of the “new Eden” that he found in Tahiti. Dissatisfied with the values of modern European culture, Gauguin left France in search of a more primitive way of life lived in intimate association with nature. His main goal was to renew his art through contact with a non-European, pre-industrial culture. In 1891 he traveled to Tahiti in the South Pacific and found what he was seeking.
"Street in Tahiti" was among the first group of paintings he produced in Tahiti during his initial two-year stay. In the painting, Gauguin sought to convey something of the special character of the place—the limpid light, rich color, lush vegetation, and lofty mountains—through his use of strong contours, flattened shapes, repeated curving rhythms, and tautly patterned brushstrokes. The overall effect of the landscape is sumptuous and majestic. However, minor notes of strain such as the brooding woman and heavy clouds pressing down from above introduce vague undertones of sadness and disquiet.
"Street in Tahiti" was among the first group of paintings he produced in Tahiti during his initial two-year stay. In the painting, Gauguin sought to convey something of the special character of the place—the limpid light, rich color, lush vegetation, and lofty mountains—through his use of strong contours, flattened shapes, repeated curving rhythms, and tautly patterned brushstrokes. The overall effect of the landscape is sumptuous and majestic. However, minor notes of strain such as the brooding woman and heavy clouds pressing down from above introduce vague undertones of sadness and disquiet.
Not on view
In Collection(s)