Sketches of Figures, Hands, and Feet (related to the painting Aha oe feii? [What! Are You Jealous?])

Sketches of Figures, Hands, and Feet (related to the painting Aha oe feii? [What! Are You Jealous?]) by Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903 is a pivotal preparatory drawing dating from the artist’s first period in Tahiti (1891-1893). This piece provides essential insight into the Post-Impressionist master’s method, detailing various anatomical elements later incorporated into the influential oil on canvas, Aha oe feii?

Executed on cream wove paper, this work utilizes a demanding combination of black fabricated chalk and pen with brown ink. Notably, the ink, which now registers as a dark brown, was originally a distinct purple hue, typical of the colors Gauguin employed to capture the light and atmosphere of the South Seas. The classification of the piece as a drawing underscores its functional role as an investigative study; it was removed from a sketchbook, suggesting its intimate place within the artist’s private creative process.

The drawing focuses intensely on isolated details-the expressive contours of figures, the nuanced articulation of hands, and the structure of feet. Gauguin frequently developed these discrete elements separately before integrating them into the final composition. The figure studies specifically reference the two Tahitian women seated and engaged in conversation in the finished painting, suggesting a deeper exploration of human interaction and emotion during his time away from France.

This work exemplifies the late 19th-century shift toward Symbolism and Primitivism championed by Gauguin. It is a critical example of the French tradition of studying figures through iterative drawing. This exceptional piece is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, providing scholars and the public an intimate view into the foundational stages of one of Gauguin’s most recognized paintings.