Human Misery (Misères humaines)

Human Misery (Misères humaines) is a profound print created by Paul Gauguin between 1898 and 1899. This French woodcut, executed on delicate Japan paper and subsequently perimeter mounted, exemplifies the artist's intense engagement with graphic arts during the final years of the period 1876 to 1900. After years spent painting in Tahiti, Gauguin frequently shifted his focus toward prints, using the medium to distill complex emotional and spiritual themes into stark visual contrasts.

The woodcut technique allowed Gauguin to move away from the lush, saturated colors of his famous canvases toward a style emphasizing raw texture and heavy, almost brutal line work. Gauguin often utilized the inherent coarseness of the wood block itself, incorporating the wood grain as a deliberate element of the composition, which enhances the mood of existential struggle suggested by the title, Human Misery (Misères humaines). The rough intensity and compressed energy of this print reflect the core concerns of Symbolism prevalent in French art at the turn of the century, prioritizing internal vision and symbolic meaning over objective reality.

This significant work resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, forming a crucial part of the museum’s holdings of late nineteenth-century prints. Gauguin’s work in the graphic medium demonstrates his versatility and his continued desire to experiment with non-traditional forms of representation. The widespread study of Gauguin’s final output ensures that such important examples of his prints are frequently analyzed, contributing greatly to our understanding of the Post-Impressionist movement. While not officially designated, the increasing trend of museums making works from this cultural period available suggests that images of this masterwork are widely accessible to the public domain for scholarly research and appreciation. Gauguin’s powerful treatment of the subject reinforces his legacy not only as a radical colorist but also as an influential printmaker.