Paul Gauguin

PAUL GAUGUIN (Paris, 1848 - I.Marquesas, 1903).
"Te Po (Eternal Night)", 1893.
Woodcut on paper.
Printed by his son Pola Gauguin in Copenhagen, 1921.
With handwritten inscriptions by the printer.
Measurements: 20 × 35 cm (footprint); 39 × 55 cm (frame).

Important woodcut belonging to the set of prints made by Paul Gauguin during his Tahitian period, a fundamental stage in which the artist developed a radically innovative language within modern graphics. Te Po -a Tahitian expression that alludes to the eternal night or the primordial origin- synthesizes his interest in the beliefs and spiritual dimension of Polynesian culture.

The composition, constructed by means of an intense contrast between blacks and white reserves, presents a scene of symbolic character where the reclining figure is integrated in a space populated by enigmatic presences. The formal simplification, the use of marked contours and the suppression of traditional perspective respond to Gauguin's desire to move away from Western codes and build an essential image, anticipating solutions that would influence the avant-garde of the 20th century, especially expressionism.

The print made in 1921 by Pola Gauguin, the artist's son, is one of the editions that contributed to the diffusion of his graphic work. Examples of this series are kept in reference institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the British Museum or the Art Institute of Chicago.

Paul Gauguin is a key figure of post-impressionism and a pioneer in the renewal of artistic language at the end of the 19th century; his work is represented in major international collections, including the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the National Gallery in London, the MoMA in New York and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.