Auti te Pape (Women at the River)

Auti te Pape (Women at the River) by Paul Gauguin, Pola Gauguin, and Christian Cato, dating from 1894-1895, is a significant and complex example of Post-Impressionist printmaking. This work exemplifies Gauguin’s increasing engagement with the raw, expressive potential of the woodcut medium during his pivotal years abroad. Executed meticulously on delicate China paper, the piece transcends typical print conventions, showcasing the artist’s departure from Western academic traditions toward simplified, decorative forms.

The print falls within the 1876 to 1900 period, a time when French artists were radically redefining approaches to color and composition. The subject matter, which depicts women bathing or gathered by a stream, reflects the idyllic, often symbolic scenes Gauguin developed following his initial travels to the South Pacific. Unlike the polished surfaces of his paintings, this woodcut utilizes severe cropping and flattened planes, elements amplified by the collaboration with Pola Gauguin and Cato, who often assisted with the technical challenges of printing and refining the blocks. The harsh, expressive texture transferred from the wood grain reinforces the sense of primal innocence and symbolic narrative the artist sought to convey.

The decision to work extensively in prints allowed Gauguin to explore dark, simplified tonalities, resulting in a unique body of graphic art that strongly influenced later Expressionists. The tactile nature of the medium, evident in the stark contrast between the heavy black lines and the luminosity of the China paper, emphasizes the material presence of the work itself. Today, Auti te Pape (Women at the River) serves as a crucial artifact for understanding the late 19th-century shift toward Modernism, and this important piece of French cultural history is held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art.