Spirit of the Dead Watching

Spirit of the Dead Watching by Paul Gauguin (1893-1894) is an important color woodcut print created shortly after the artist’s first period in Tahiti. Gauguin utilized the inherent coarseness of the woodcut medium to reinforce the primal intensity of the subject matter, deliberately leaving the grain visible and embracing the irregularities created during the printing process. The piece explores the central theme of death and the profound relationship between the living and the spirit world, filtered through the artist’s interpretation of indigenous Tahitian folklore.

The composition depicts a female figure lying facedown, observed by a ghostly, hooded form positioned behind her. This spectral presence, often identified as a tupapau or ancestral spirit, represents the native belief in unseen presences, confronting mortality head-on. Gauguin’s stylized approach-characterized by flat planes of color, heavy outlines, and a lack of traditional Western perspective-reflects his foundational role in Post-Impressionism and Symbolism. Unlike earlier black-and-white prints, Gauguin chose to print this edition using multiple colors on wove paper, showcasing his innovative effort to bridge printmaking techniques with the visual impact of painting. These striking effects established a new precedent for modern prints in the late nineteenth century. This significant example of Gauguin’s prints is maintained in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.