Landscape with a Cottage; Profile of Boy, Profile of Man, Two Women in a Landscape, and Five Other Studies [verso]

Landscape with a Cottage; Profile of Boy, Profile of Man, Two Women in a Landscape, and Five Other Studies [verso] by Paul Gauguin is an insightful drawing completed between 1884 and 1888. This complex work, executed in pen and brown ink on wove paper, showcases Gauguin's exploratory approach to subject matter during his crucial Post-Impressionist phase. Classified as a drawing, the piece captures multiple distinct elements, serving as a dynamic sketchbook page that combines landscape studies with portraiture.

The primary visual component focuses on a rural scene featuring a Landscape with a Cottage. This setting is complemented by detailed figure studies, including the titular Profile of Boy and Profile of Man, alongside the presence of Two Women in a Landscape. These varied studies reflect Gauguin’s continuous investigation into composition and human form, providing clues to his working method during the late 19th century. As a French artist working within the period designated as 1876 to 1900, Gauguin was transitioning away from conventional Impressionism toward the Symbolist and Primitivist styles that would define his later career.

This particular drawing, including the "Five Other Studies" on the verso, demonstrates Gauguin’s economy of materials and his practice of utilizing every available surface for artistic exploration. The spontaneous energy of the pen and brown ink lines contrasts the deliberate execution found in his final paintings. The National Gallery of Art holds this significant piece of French culture in its collection, offering researchers and the public access to the raw preparatory stages of one of modern art's most influential figures. Though not a finished canvas, the drawing provides indispensable context to Gauguin’s evolving style as he sought deeper emotional and structural resonance in his art.