Two Tahitian Women and a Marquesan Earplug

The influential Post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903 created the drawing Two Tahitian Women and a Marquesan Earplug between 1891 and 1893. This study utilizes a precise combination of pen and brown ink layered over underlying graphite sketches, all rendered on the specialized surface of parchment. The classification as a drawing highlights Gauguin’s reliance on graphic work for both preliminary studies and independent compositions during his crucial first sojourn in the South Pacific.

This period was characterized by Gauguin's decisive break from the artistic norms of France, as he sought what he viewed as "primitive" inspiration far from European urbanization. The composition centers on two Tahitian women, depicted with the flattened forms and symbolic intensity characteristic of Gauguin’s style. The inclusion of the Marquesan earplug suggests the artist's burgeoning ethnographic interest in documenting non-Western artifacts and integrating them into his creative output.

The detailed lines and careful rendering reflect Gauguin’s commitment to capturing the cultural essence of the islands. This drawing exemplifies his process of translating real-life observation into a powerful, decorative visual language. As a key example of the artist’s work during this highly influential period, the Two Tahitian Women and a Marquesan Earplug resides in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it serves as a critical document of Gauguin's transition to Modernism. Prints and images of this seminal piece are frequently studied for insight into the Post-Impressionist master's final decade.