Eye and Part of Face; A Breton Woman and Two Men [recto]

Eye and Part of Face; A Breton Woman and Two Men [recto] is a detailed drawing created by Paul Gauguin between 1884 and 1888. Executed using graphite and crayon on wove paper, this work functions as a collection of preliminary studies, reflecting Gauguin's meticulous process during the critical transition period of the mid-1880s. The piece is classified as a Drawing and provides vital documentation of the artist's engagement with local subjects before his greater stylistic shift toward Symbolism.

The composition features several disparate studies, including an isolated eye and part of a face, alongside separate observations of a woman identified as Breton, distinguishable by her traditional attire, and sketches of two men. These facial fragments and figure studies demonstrate Gauguin's practice of rapidly recording visual information from life. This method was crucial to the French artistic tradition of the time, allowing the artist to build a visual vocabulary used repeatedly in later, more formalized oil paintings and finished prints.

The artwork dates firmly to the period of 1876 to 1900, marking Gauguin’s development from an amateur Impressionist to one of the central figures of Post-Impressionism. During this time, the artist frequently immersed himself in rural communities, particularly in Brittany, seeking authenticity and simplicity that he felt was lacking in modern urban life. The use of simple, direct media-like graphite and crayon emphasizes the immediacy of his observation.

This significant drawing is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art. The preservation of such preparatory works is essential for understanding the working methodology of master artists. Recognizing the cultural importance of these pieces, institutions often place high-resolution images of historical drawings like this into the public domain, allowing students and enthusiasts globally to access and study Gauguin's early draftsmanship.