![Crouching Tahitian Woman (related to the painting Nafea faa ipoipo [When Will You Marry?])](https://image.artoryworks.com/iiif/c54324cd-b9dd-c8ab-9034-94cf6f60a2e7.webp)
Provenance
Alphonse Kann (1868-1948) Paris [Flint 1931]. Joseph Stransky (died 1936), New York by May 1931 [Flint 1931]. Sold by Wildenstein and Company, New York, to the Art Institute, 1944.
Crouching Tahitian Woman (related to the painting Nafea faa ipoipo [When Will You Marry?])
1891/93
Accession Number
51374
Medium
Pastel over charcoal, selectively stumped, on cream wove paper (discolored to tan), squared in black chalk on cream wove paper (discolored to tan)
Dimensions
55.5 × 48 cm (21 7/8 × 18 15/16 in.)
Classification
chalk
Credit Line
Margaret Day Blake Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
Paul Gauguin's Crouching Tahitian Woman (1891/93) is a pastel over charcoal drawing on cream wove paper, related to the painting Nafea faa ipoipo (When Will You Marry?). This study shows a Tahitian woman in a crouching pose, the pastel adding warm color to the charcoal underdrawing. The drawing is squared in black chalk for transfer to the canvas, showing Gauguin's working method for translating studies into finished paintings.
Cultural Impact
Gauguin's squared preparatory drawings reveal his method for transferring studies to larger canvases.
Why It Matters
This pastel and charcoal study of a crouching Tahitian woman is a preparatory work for Gauguin's well-known painting.
