Old Women of Arles, from the Volpini Suite

Old Women of Arles, from the Volpini Suite is a pivotal print created by Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903) and published posthumously by Ambroise Vollard. Executed in 1889, this specific work is a zincograph, a printmaking technique similar to lithography, rendered in black ink on ivory wove paper, designed to imitate Japanese vellum. This image belongs to a series of eleven experimental prints known collectively as the Volpini Suite or Suite Gauguin, which the artist displayed during his independent exhibition at the Café Volpini in Paris during the 1889 World’s Fair. This exhibition was a critical moment, asserting Gauguin’s definitive departure from Impressionism within the cultural landscape of France.

Gauguin created the zincographs during his transformative stay in Arles, where he sought subject matter that reflected simplicity and tradition, often focusing on rural figures. The composition depicts two elderly women, their heavy cloaks and stark profiles rendered through simple, vigorous lines. The zincograph medium encourages broad areas of shadow and light, lending the piece a raw, graphic power that aligns with Gauguin’s nascent Symbolist interests. Unlike the complex color palettes of his paintings, this medium forced the artist to emphasize outline, composition, and stark contrast, foreshadowing the bold cloisonnisme style he would later perfect.

The creation of these challenging prints established Gauguin as a major innovator in graphic arts, proving that printmaking could serve as a vehicle for modern, experimental expression. Today, institutions widely study this influential series through available images and high-quality prints. This impression of Old Women of Arles resides within the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, testifying to Gauguin's crucial contribution to late nineteenth-century Post-Impressionist printmaking.