Accession Number
113277
Medium
Black fabricated chalk, selectively blended, with touches of brush and gray gouache, over traces of black fabricated chalk offset (recto); graphite (verso); on ivory wove paper (removed from a sketchbook)
Dimensions
17.8 × 27.3 cm (7 1/16 × 10 3/4 in.)
Classification
crayon
Credit Line
Samuel P. Avery Fund
Background & Context
Background Story
Paul Gauguin's double-sided drawing Seated Tahitian Woman (recto) and Sketches of Roosters and Chickens (verso) (1891/93) is a black fabricated chalk drawing with touches of gray gouache on ivory wove paper. The recto shows a seated Tahitian woman, while the verso sketches roosters and chickens, animals that Gauguin encountered in Tahiti. The double-sided sheet shows Gauguin's working process, the recto a finished study and the verso a quick sketch.
Cultural Impact
Gauguin's sketchbook pages provide invaluable insight into his working process in Tahiti.
Why It Matters
This double-sided sheet shows a seated Tahitian woman and sketches of chickens, revealing Gauguin's working process in the South Pacific.
