Heads of Tahitian Women, Frontal and Profile Views

Heads of Tahitian Women, Frontal and Profile Views is a powerful drawing by Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903, executed between 1891 and 1893. Classified as a drawing, this piece showcases a sophisticated command of charcoal. Gauguin created rich tonal variations by employing charcoal and wetted charcoal on cream wove paper. The textures and contours were refined using advanced drawing techniques, including stumping, which softened edges and blended tones, and careful erasing used to lift highlights. The composition was selectively fixed to preserve the intricate details and tonal shifts of the fragile medium.

Created shortly after Gauguin’s seminal 1891 voyage to the South Pacific, this work reflects his deep engagement with the local culture. As a key figure in Post-Impressionism, the artist often utilized the Tahitian population as subjects, attempting to capture an idealized sense of purity and naturalism distinct from his contemporary life in France. This particular drawing presents multiple studies of women's faces, rendered in both stark frontal views and precise profiles. This academic approach of utilizing simultaneous portrait angles suggests that Gauguin may have been preparing compositional studies for larger, more saturated canvases, or was perhaps exploring the idealization of the indigenous female form that characterized his output during this period.

The contrast between the heavy, darkened lines and the smooth, modeled skin captures the psychological intensity the artist sought in his exoticized subjects. This drawing is a crucial example of Gauguin’s draftsmanship during his early Tahitian years, emphasizing line and shadow over color. The work is held in the prestigious collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it serves as a significant reference point for studying the artist’s progression from European artistic traditions toward Symbolism. The enduring influence of this Post-Impressionism master is evident globally; while the original resides in the museum, high-quality prints and reproductions of many of Gauguin’s works are widely accessible through resources dedicated to art in the public domain.