Portrait of the Artist’s Mother (Eve)

Portrait of the Artist’s Mother (Eve) is a pivotal work created by Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903, between 1889 and 1890. The piece is executed in gouache, applied over a white ground, utilizing gray millboard as the support. Gauguin's choice of medium during this crucial period signals a deliberate move away from traditional oil painting toward materials that emphasized texture, flatness, and graphic impact. The resulting surface quality, along with the dense application of color, foreshadows the experimental spirit that would define his subsequent career.

The dating places the work squarely within Gauguin’s Post-Impressionist phase, when he was finalizing his explorations in Brittany, France. While initially appearing as a conventional representation of a relative, the parenthetical addition of "(Eve)" elevates the painting beyond simple portraiture. Gauguin frequently utilized family subjects as vehicles for broader, symbolic concerns, often grafting historical or mythological identities onto intimate depictions. Linking his mother to the biblical Eve suggests a contemplation of life, origin, and the cyclical nature of humanity, themes which dominate the artist’s visual vocabulary. The deliberate simplification of forms and the use of strong outlines reflect the Synthetism style developed by Gauguin and his peers at Pont-Aven.

This significant painting is housed in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it serves as a key example of Gauguin’s output just prior to his departure for the South Seas. The study of the technique and composition of the Portrait of the Artist’s Mother (Eve) remains crucial for understanding the transition from Symbolism to early Modernism. As a historically important Post-Impressionist masterwork from France, high-resolution images and prints of this Gauguin painting are widely accessible, often available through various public domain and art reference initiatives.