Portrait of Tehamana
1891/93
Medium
Charcoal and wetted charcoal, with stumping and erasing, on cream wove paper, selectively fixedr
Dimensions
41.3 × 32.5 cm (16 5/16 × 12 13/16 in.)
Classification
prints and drawing
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
190666
Art Historical Context
Paul Gauguin's *Portrait of Tehamana created between 1891 and 1893, captures the artist's fascination with Tahitian life during his first voyage to the South Pacific. As a leading Post-Impressionist,uguin sought escape from European civilization, immersing himself in Polynesian and producing works that blended exoticism with symbolic depth. This intimate drawing depicts Tehamana, a young Tahitian woman who became his companion, rendered with a tender yet monumental presence that reflects his idealization of indigenous subjects. Executed in charcoal and wetted charcoal on cream wove paper, the...
About the Artist
Paul Gauguin · 1848–1903
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose bold experiments with color, form, and subject matter made him one of the most influential figures in the transition from 19th-century art to modernism. His rejection of European civilization for the perceived authenticity of 'primitive' cultures established an archetype of artistic exile that continues to resonate. Gauguin's ...