Auti Te Pape

Auti Te Pape (The River Bath), created by Paul Gauguin between 1893 and 1894, is a significant example of the artist’s prolific printmaking period following his initial voyage to Tahiti. Classified as a print, the work is a woodcut executed on delicate china paper, a medium Gauguin frequently utilized to explore themes of primitive life and spiritual symbolism. Gauguin’s decision to pursue the woodcut technique during this era allowed him to move beyond the vibrant color palettes of his paintings, emphasizing stark, dramatic contrast and utilizing rough, expressive lines to capture powerful, flattened forms.

The subject matter centers on Female Nudes situated in proximity to Rivers or streams, reflecting the traditional daily life the artist observed-or imagined-in the South Pacific. Gauguin depicts two monumental figures near the water’s edge, their simplified, almost sculptural bodies filling the frame. The heavy application of the woodcut texture lends a primal, mythic quality to the scene, characteristic of the synthetist style Gauguin employed to convey emotion and symbolic meaning rather than pure representation.

This powerful and technically experimental print, which captures the profound influence of Oceanic culture on Gauguin's late career, resides in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a major work by the post-Impressionist master, this piece continues to inform scholarly study of late 19th-century prints and European interpretations of non-Western culture. Today, important works similar to Auti Te Pape are sometimes available in the public domain, enhancing access to Gauguin's transformative artistic output.