L'Univers est crée (The Creation of the Universe)

L'Univers est crée (The Creation of the Universe) is a striking print executed between 1894 and 1895 by the collaborative effort of Paul Gauguin, Pola Gauguin, and Christian Cato. This classification as a Print, specifically a woodcut executed on delicate China paper, places the work within the highly experimental French artistic milieu of the late 19th century (1876 to 1900). While primarily associated with painting, Gauguin significantly explored the expressive possibilities of the woodcut medium during his time in the South Pacific, focusing on primal themes and simplified, bold forms characteristic of the Post-Impressionist movement.

The creation myth depicted in the work reflects Gauguin’s enduring fascination with spirituality and non-Western iconography, synthesizing elements of Polynesian mythology into a distinctly modern visual language. Unlike traditional academic prints, this piece utilizes the rough, visceral quality inherent in the woodcut technique to convey a raw, elemental narrative appropriate for the subject of universal creation. The collaboration with Pola Gauguin and Cato suggests either joint involvement in the execution of the block or perhaps a later printing and editioning process managed under the artist's supervision or by his studio.

This complex graphic work is recognized for its unique contribution to the history of French graphic arts. Gauguin’s deliberate primitivism and decorative flatness displayed in L'Univers est crée directly influenced successive generations of modernist artists seeking alternatives to European classicism. Housed in the prestigious collection of the National Gallery of Art, this impression of the woodcut, created at the end of the 19th century, is a significant historical document. Due to the cultural and historical importance of these influential prints, high-resolution reproductions are often made available through public domain initiatives for international study and art historical analysis.