Locusts and Ants: A Memory of Martinique (Les cigales et les fourmis: Souvenir de la Martinique)

Locusts and Ants: A Memory of Martinique (Les cigales et les fourmis: Souvenir de la Martinique) was created in 1889 by Paul Gauguin and Ambroise Vollard. This influential graphic work is classified as a print, executed specifically as a lithograph derived from a zinc plate, printed on a delicate support of imitation Japan paper. The choice of the lithographic medium, particularly using zinc, offered Gauguin a distinct freedom of line and a texture that differed significantly from his woodblock prints, allowing him to reinterpret his earlier Caribbean motifs into an accessible graphic form.

The title explicitly references Gauguin's formative 1887 trip to Martinique, a period that profoundly influenced his developing aesthetic, shifting his focus away from Impressionism toward Symbolism and an emerging sense of Primitivism. The tropical setting provided a foundational vocabulary of color and form that Gauguin would carry through his career. Although the landscape and figures often depict the island environment, the dual reference to "Locusts and Ants" (or the Cicada and the Ant, Les cigales et les fourmis) invokes the popular Fables of La Fontaine. Gauguin often used such literary allusions to frame his personal experiences and observations concerning industriousness versus idleness, a common thematic device in French art during this period.

Created within the critical artistic period of 1876 to 1900, this lithograph showcases Gauguin’s move towards flat, synthetic forms and expressive outlines, key characteristics of the Post-Impressionist movement. Vollard, acting as a crucial publisher and collaborator, played a significant role in ensuring the visibility and dissemination of Gauguin’s prints during the late nineteenth century, recognizing the importance of graphic arts in expanding the artist’s oeuvre. As a testament to Gauguin's early explorations of memory and non-European subject matter, Locusts and Ants: A Memory of Martinique is held in the comprehensive prints collection of the National Gallery of Art.