Color Chart with Annotations [verso]

The utilitarian yet revealing Color Chart with Annotations [verso] is a preparatory drawing created by Paul Gauguin between 1884 and 1888. Executed in pen and brown ink on wove paper, this work offers unique insight into the artist’s intellectual process during a critical phase of his career. Falling squarely within the period spanning 1876 to 1900, this document reflects Gauguin’s growing focus on synthesizing form and color, marking his evolution away from Impressionist tenets toward what would become Post-Impressionism and Synthetism.

As suggested by the title, this drawing functions as a technical guide, likely utilized on the reverse side of another sheet, indicating that it was a working tool rather than a standalone presentation piece. The composition features various grids and written notations, demonstrating Gauguin’s meticulous experimentation with pigments and tonal relationships. These detailed annotations are crucial for understanding how the artist planned his palette for subsequent paintings and prints, systematically documenting the effects of mixing colors and establishing specific chromatic values. Unlike his finished works, which emphasize symbolic and emotional expression, this piece highlights the pragmatic, scientific underpinning of Gauguin’s color decisions.

The preoccupation with color theory was characteristic of many avant-garde artists in the late 19th-century French art world, though Gauguin’s approach here is distinctly personal and methodical. Studies such as this color chart are vital for scholars reconstructing the precise development of his signature aesthetic, especially as he began his transformative move away from Brittany toward the tropics. This significant preparatory drawing is classified under the Drawing category, affirming its nature as a foundational study, and is housed within the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art.