Women, Animals, and Foliage, from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints

Women, Animals, and Foliage, from the Suite of Late Wood-Block Prints by Paul Gauguin French, 1848-1903, was executed between 1898 and 1899. This period marks Gauguin’s final decade spent primarily in the South Pacific, yet the resulting prints were designed for exhibition and sale to a European audience in France. The specific medium is a wood-block print rendered in black ink on thin ivory Japanese paper, reflecting the artist’s engagement with non-Western printmaking traditions. This delicate impression is partially laid down on a sheet of thin white Japanese paper for stability, underscoring the fragility of the work.

Gauguin favored the rugged, sometimes raw aesthetic of the wood-block technique, intentionally rejecting the refined polish associated with traditional European engravings. His graphic style emphasizes broad, simplified forms, using dense areas of black contrasted sharply with untouched white paper. This technique perfectly suited his move toward Symbolism and flattened composition. The subject matter depicts female figures mingling seamlessly with the flora and fauna of a tropical environment. This visual integration of human and natural forms speaks directly to Gauguin’s quest for an unspoiled, mythic primitivism, frequently employing local women to embody this idealized state.

This particular piece belongs to the significant suite of prints completed by Gauguin near the turn of the century, demonstrating his profound commitment to the medium as an original art form. Hailing from France, the artist profoundly influenced subsequent generations of European modernists through his bold graphic output. This important impression is now housed in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it serves as a key example of Gauguin's groundbreaking approach to fin-de-siècle printmaking. The enduring legacy of the artist means that high-quality prints of such masterpieces are often made accessible to the public domain.