Manuscript Pages [verso]

The work titled Manuscript Pages [verso] by Paul Gauguin, dating between 1884 and 1888, offers a rare, intimate look into the artist's private intellectual process. Classified as a drawing, the piece consists of a page of handwritten notes executed using pen and brown ink on wove paper. This medium underscores Gauguin's early commitment to capturing immediate thoughts and artistic formulas through the simple, direct tools of the draftsman, prioritizing conceptualization over elaborate execution.

Created during a significant transitional phase for the French artist, this drawing falls squarely within the critical period of 1876 to 1900, a time when Gauguin began to decisively pivot away from Impressionism toward the Symbolist and Synthetist approaches that would define his legacy. The specific content of these manuscript pages is essential for scholars seeking to reconstruct Gauguin's developing aesthetic philosophy before his key journeys outside Europe. The presence of such theoretical documents highlights the importance the artist placed on intellectual exploration and literary reference alongside his painting practice.

The raw simplicity of Manuscript Pages [verso] provides crucial context for tracing Gauguin’s intellectual evolution. This important drawing is part of the distinguished collection of the National Gallery of Art, where it serves as a valuable document illustrating the working methods of a major Post-Impressionist figure. Although the original exists as a singular drawing, its status as a historical document means that high-quality reproductions and fine art prints derived from institutional photographs often enter the public domain, ensuring that access to Gauguin’s preparatory material is widely available for researchers and students of the era 1876 to 1900.