Tahitian Carrying Bananas (Le porteur de fei)

Tahitian Carrying Bananas (Le porteur de fei) by Paul Gauguin, created in 1895, is a powerful example of the artist's exploration of non-Western subjects through the graphic medium of the woodcut. This work depicts a solitary Tahitian figure carrying a heavy stalk of fei (a type of banana native to the South Pacific), set against an abstracted, simplified background. The choice of woodcut, a robust and unforgiving print technique, allowed Gauguin to achieve stark contrasts and primitive textures, moving away from the delicate methodologies favored by academic French artists of the time.

Gauguin’s significant output of prints during the period 1876 to 1900 reflects his growing interest in Symbolism and the expressive potential of non-traditional media. Returning to printmaking after his first transformative trip to Tahiti, the artist often utilized the rough grain of the wood block itself as a textural element, enhancing the feeling of rawness and immediacy in his depictions of island life. These Tahitian scenes were pivotal to his late career, offering a visual critique of industrial European society through the imagined purity and simplicity of the Pacific islands.

The composition exhibits the simplification of form and flat planes characteristic of Gauguin’s mature style. Unlike traditional European representations, the figure is monumentalized, blending the human form with the natural abundance of the tropics. The bold, heavy lines and dense inking emphasize the sculptural quality of the subject, transforming a simple daily task into a timeless, iconic image. This particular print provides crucial insight into the graphic output of the pivotal French Post-Impressionist master, and is housed within the esteemed collection of the National Gallery of Art.