At the Black Rocks, from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints

At the Black Rocks, from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints by Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903, exemplifies the artist's dedication to graphic arts during his self-imposed exile in the South Pacific. Created between 1898 and 1899, this powerful image merges Symbolist aesthetic concerns with Oceanic motifs, reflecting the culmination of Gauguin’s search for an elemental and non-Western expressive language. Though executed far from Europe, the finished work contributed directly to the trajectory of modern prints in France, influencing subsequent generations of avant-garde artists.

Gauguin (1848-1903) meticulously utilized the demanding wood-block medium, printing the image in rich black ink on cream wove paper. This technique allowed him to achieve striking contrasts and a heavy, textured linearity that differentiates his prints from his canvases. He deliberately left the wood matrix rough, prioritizing raw texture and expressive impact over smooth finish. This aesthetic aligns with the period’s Primitivism, using the medium’s inherent roughness to convey the emotional weight and cultural specificity of his Tahitian subject matter.

This significant work is part of a larger, highly ambitious suite of prints created by Gauguin toward the end of his career. The deliberately heavy lines and compressed compositional space seen in the piece suggest a brooding atmosphere, characteristic of the psychological depth Gauguin sought. This print is housed in the esteemed collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. As a seminal example of late nineteenth-century French prints, works like At the Black Rocks are frequently studied by historians, and high-resolution images of such masterpieces often become available in the public domain for research and appreciation.