Le sourire: Journal sérieux, Sept. 19, 1899

Le sourire: Journal sérieux, Sept. 19, 1899 by Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903) is a rare and historically significant document exemplifying the artist's engagement with experimental printmaking and self-publishing near the end of his career. Created in 1899, this unique sheet utilized the highly technical combination of mimeograph in brownish-black ink alongside carefully rendered wood-block prints executed in black ink upon cream wove paper. This fusion of traditional relief printing with nascent mechanical duplication methods showcases Gauguin’s innovative approach to visual communication available in late nineteenth-century France.

The work served as an issue of Le Sourire (The Smile), a short-lived, satirical, and artistic journal personally produced by Gauguin during his second residence in Tahiti. Although geographically isolated from the established art world, the artist used this medium to circulate his critical views, sketches, and literary writings, ensuring his commentary and distinctive aesthetic reached his associates in Europe.

This particular print is significant not only for its composition but also as an artifact demonstrating Gauguin’s rigorous control as both artist and publisher, controlling the content and visual texture of his output. The complexity of the layered medium highlights Gauguin's extensive exploration of the printmaking process, a major definitional phase of his late career. This exceptional example of graphic art resides in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, contributing essential material toward the study of Post-Impressionist prints. Today, the integrity of such works is preserved while often becoming accessible via public domain initiatives through collecting institutions.