Soyez amoureuses, vous serez heureuses (Love, and You Will Be Happy), from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints

Soyez amoureuses, vous serez heureuses (Love, and You Will Be Happy), from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints is a key graphic work created by Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903) in 1899. This distinctive piece exemplifies Gauguin’s late career experimentation with the challenging medium of printmaking. The composition is executed as a wood-block print, utilizing a richly saturated, dark-orange, or burnt sienna, ink pressed onto cream wove paper. This choice of color imparts a warm, almost earthen quality to the stylized figures and forms, distinguishing it from his earlier, more monochromatic prints.

Though created while Gauguin was residing in Tahiti, the artistic sensibility and core themes belong firmly to the Symbolist movement prevalent in France at the close of the 19th century. The work, bearing the inscription of its title directly within the design, often features enigmatic figures or scenes of daily Polynesian life filtered through the artist's complex, Western perspective. Gauguin utilized the process of creating relief prints, specifically the carving inherent in the wood-block method, to achieve raw, expressive textures that mirrored the primitive quality he sought in his subject matter. The suite itself provided a crucial platform for Gauguin to disseminate his graphic ideas during a period of relative isolation.

This specific print, representing a high point in Gauguin’s graphic output, confirms his profound influence on the development of modern art. It serves as a vital record of the Symbolist era of French prints, and because of its age, the underlying imagery is frequently available through public domain sources, enhancing its accessibility for study. This significant example of Soyez amoureuses, vous serez heureuses is housed in the esteemed permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.