Sketches of Seated Figures and Chickens (recto), Nude Female Torso (related to the painting Te a no areois [The Seed of the Areoi]) (verso), from the Carnet de Tahiti (Tahitian sketchbook)

The significant double-sided sheet, Sketches of Seated Figures and Chickens (recto), Nude Female Torso (related to the painting Te a no areois [The Seed of the Areoi]) (verso), from the Carnet de Tahiti (Tahitian sketchbook), was created by Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903, between 1891 and 1893. This crucial period marks Gauguin’s first transformative journey to Tahiti, where he sought an idealized, non-Western culture to inform his emerging Symbolist aesthetic. The work is classified as a drawing, executed primarily in sharp graphite lines on cream wove paper.

The recto side features quick, observational studies of seated human figures and domestic chickens, capturing fleeting elements of the daily life the artist encountered. These rapid sketches, typical of the French master's method, functioned as raw visual notes, cataloging motifs for later use. The verso offers a more focused rendering: a nude female torso executed in graphite, showing subtle traces of green watercolor offset that resulted from the sheet resting against another pigmented page within the original bound sketchbook. This particular figure is a direct preparatory study for Gauguin’s monumental 1892 oil painting, Te a no areois (The Seed of the Areoi).

Removed from the legendary Carnet de Tahiti, this sheet provides invaluable insight into the prolific working methods of the artist. Drawings such as this were essential visual inventories, allowing Gauguin to develop and refine his major compositions both locally and after his eventual return to France. The juxtaposition of casual observations and detailed academic figure studies highlights the dual purpose of his sketchbooks. This important piece resides in the distinguished collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, offering scholars access to the originals that often inspire later prints and studies available in the public domain.