Auti te pape (Women at the River) from Noa Noa (Fragrant Scent)

The work Auti te pape (Women at the River) from Noa Noa (Fragrant Scent) by Paul Gauguin is a seminal woodcut created around 1893. This classification of printmaking is one of ten included in the influential Noa Noa portfolio, a pivotal project that chronicled Gauguin’s first transformative journey to Tahiti. The series of prints served as powerful visual counterpoints to his written journal, blending autobiography, ethnographic observation, and deeply personal myth-making.

Gauguin’s approach to the woodcut medium was radical and deliberately unconventional for the French artistic scene of the 1890s. Rather than striving for the refinement typical of traditional relief printing, the artist embraced an intentionally rough, "primitive" aesthetic. He used blunt cutting tools and often allowed the natural imperfections and inherent grain of the wood block to remain visible in the finished impression. This technique imbues Auti te pape with a raw, powerful texture that enhances its connection to non-Western artistic traditions.

The image depicts Tahitian women bathing or gathering at the river, a recurrent motif that allowed Gauguin to explore themes of innocence and exoticism. Characteristic of the Symbolist and Post-Impressionist periods, the composition utilizes simplified forms and flattened perspectives. Gauguin masterfully exploited the stark contrast between the heavy black ink and the paper, defining his figures through bold outlines and large areas of unmodulated tone. This intense engagement with Polynesian culture defined his artistic output throughout the 1893–94 era.

As one of the most critical prints from the Noa Noa series, the work remains fundamental for understanding the shift from late 19th-century French aesthetics toward modern abstraction. This historically important example of Gauguin’s printmaking is housed in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).