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

Auti te Pape (Women at the River) from Noa Noa (Fragrant Scent) by Paul Gauguin is a significant French print dating from 1894, although the specific impression held by the Museum of Modern Art was printed posthumously in 1921. This striking work is one of a celebrated series of eight woodcuts the artist created to illustrate his travelogue, Noa Noa (meaning ‘Fragrant Scent’), detailing his formative experiences in Tahiti.

The subject matter, depicting women engaged in daily activities near a tropical waterway, reflects Gauguin’s sustained effort to capture and exoticize Polynesian life. Unlike traditional academic prints, Gauguin utilized the woodcut medium in a deliberately raw and unconventional manner. He treated the block not merely as a surface for linear design but as an independent, sculptural object, carving deeply into the wood to achieve highly textured, elemental forms. This technique results in a powerful contrast between simplified mass and shadow, characteristic of the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements.

Gauguin sought to move beyond mere visual representation, employing the stark language of the woodcut to access deeper, spiritual realities he perceived in non-Western cultures. This approach emphasized the spiritual primitivism that defined much of his later career. The work's compressed composition and heavy lines contribute to a feeling of timeless myth, transforming a mundane scene into a potent symbolic image.

As a pivotal figure in modern art, Gauguin revolutionized printmaking, and impressions from the Noa Noa series are widely regarded for their profound influence on Expressionist artists who followed. This specific woodcut resides in the renowned collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Though designed in 1894, the subsequent printing of these powerful images ensures that Gauguin's profound artistic explorations of the French colonial period remain essential for contemporary art study.