Mahana atua (Day of the God)

Mahana atua (Day of the God) is a profoundly influential wood-block print created by Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903) between 1894 and 1895. This impression, printed posthumously by his son, Pola Gauguin (Danish, born France, 1883-1961) and published by Christian Cato in Copenhagen, captures the essence of Gauguin’s late career fascination with the cultures of the South Pacific. The original woodblock design was executed during his final trip to France before his permanent return to Tahiti, representing a pivotal moment in his stylistic development toward Primitivism.

The work is executed in black ink on delicate grayish-ivory China paper, showcasing Gauguin’s distinctive approach to the print medium. Unlike traditional wood-engraving techniques that focus on fine detail, Gauguin utilized the block’s inherent roughness and emphasized broad areas of flat color and expressive contours, resulting in a stark, yet emotionally resonant image. This deliberate simplification of form reflects the artist’s search for authenticity in non-Western cultures and had a profound impact on early 20th-century modern art.

While the original source material for Mahana atua remains Tahitian, the image as presented in these prints reveals the European culture’s interpretation and romanticization of the exotic. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this significant example of Gauguin's graphic output in its permanent collection, underscoring the enduring historical importance of his prints to the history of French art and the development of the Symbolist movement.