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Paul Gauguin

Eve, 1890

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 83

Medium

glazed ceramic

Dimensions

overall: 60.6 x 27.9 x 27.3 cm (23 7/8 x 11 x 10 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

Accession Number

1970.30.1

Artists / Makers

Paul Gauguin (artist) French, 1848 - 1903

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

in relief on self-base near left foot: P Gauguin; glued to rear of base, a scalloped paper disc stamped in ink: DOUANE / PARIS / CENTRALE

Provenance

On consignment from the artist at (Boussod-Valadon, Paris), late 1890.[1] Michel Manzi [1849-1915], Paris, by 1893?;[2] (his estate sale, Galerie Manzi, Joyant & Cie., Paris, 13-14 March 1919, 2nd day, no. 239).[3] Walther Halvorsen [1887-1972], Norway, 1921.[4] H. d'Oelsnitz, Paris, by 1928.[5] (Galerie Le Portique, Paris), by 1929.[6] Georges Pécout, Paris, by 1964.[7] (Galerie Beyeler, Basel);[8] purchased October 1970 by NGA.

[1] John Rewald, "Theo Van Gogh, Goupil, and the Impressionists", Gazette des Beaux Arts, 6th per., 81 (January-February 1973): 72. Claire Frèches-Thory in The Art of Paul Gauguin, Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago; Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Washington, D.C., 1988: 183, claims Schuffenecker owned Eve, presumably on the basis of the 1891 Brussels exhibition catalogue in which his is the only lenders' name cited for Gauguin's entries there. However, his name appears below the last three entries, "4. trois vases (poterie)," as if these alone were his. That conclusion is supported by a letter from Schuffenecker to Octave Maus, the organizer of the Vingtiste exhibition, cited in Rewald 1973: 68, n. 140, that reportedly claims he merely lent three ceramic pieces to the show--hence the three "pottery" vases.

[2] This possibility was suggested by Victor Merlhès (personal communication) based on Gauguin's letter of early 1894, to be published in a forthcoming volume of the correspondence, that refers to La Femme Noire in Gauguin's exhibition of 1893 at Durand-Ruel as belonging to Manzi. Merlhès' proposal challenges the current identification of this work as Black Venus (Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York).

[3] Sales catalogue, Galerie Manzi, Joyant & Cie., Paris, 14 March 1919, no. 239, repro. opp. p. 40. The piece reportedly sold for 1,980 francs. See the biography of Michel Manzi in the preface (pp. I-XII).

[4] Anne-Marie Berryer, "A propos d'un vase de Chaplet décoré par Gauguin", Bulletin des Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 3d ser., 16, 1-2 (January-April 1944): 24, fig. 29.

[5] Cited as the lender in Gauguin. Sculpteur et graveur, Exh. cat., Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, 1928: no. 32.

[6] Illustrated and identified, as a Maori-Mädchen, as belonging to this gallery in Wilhelm Barth, "Eine unbekannte Plastik von Gauguin", Das Kunstblatt 13 (June 1929): 182-183.

[7] Merete Bodelsen, Gauguin's Ceramics, London, 1964: 138, 235.

[7] In NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Boussod et Valadon
Galerie Beyeler
Galerie Le Portique
Galerie Manzi-Joyant
Gauguin, Paul
Halvorsen, Walther
Manzi, Michel
Pécout, Georges
d'Oelsnitz, H.

Exhibition History

1891: Les XX, huitiéme exposition annuelle, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 1891, no. 3, as Statue émaillée (grès).

1893: Possibly Exposition Paul Gauguin, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1893, no. 45, as La Femme Noire.

1928: Gauguin: Sculpteur et Graveur, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, 1928, no. 32, as Jeune femme nue, debout.

1960: Cent oeuvres de Gauguin, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 1960, no. 131, as Noa-Noa.

1974: Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1974, unnumbered checklist.

1988: The Art of Paul Gauguin, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Art Institute of Chicago; Galeries nationale du Grand Palais, Paris, 1988-1989, no. 104, color repro. (shown only in Washington).

2010: Gauguin: Maker of Myth, Tate, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2010-2011, no. 96, repro. (shown only in Washington).

2018: Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body, The Met Breuer, New York, 2018, no. 49, repro.

Bibliography

1906: Rotonchamp, Jean de. [pseud. of Louis Brouillon]. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903. Weimar, 1906: 69.

1929: Barth, Wilhelm. "Eine unbekannte Plastik von Gauguin." Das Kunstblatt 13 (June 1929): 182-183, repro.

1944: Berryer, Anne-Marie. "A propos d'un vase de Chaplet décoré par Gauguin." Bulletin des Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire 3rd ser., 16, 1-2 (January-April 1944): 24, fig. 29, as Tahitienne debout.

1953: Dorra, Henri. "The First Eves in Gauguin's Eden." Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 6th per., 41 (March 1953): 189-202.

1963: Gray, Christopher. Sculpture and Ceramics of Paul Gauguin. Baltimore, 1963: 214-215, no. 92, repro.

1964: Bodelsen, Merete. Gauguin's Ceramics. London, 1964: 138, 235, no. 55, fig. 93.

1979: Alhadeff, Albert. "Minne and Gauguin in Brussels: An Unexplored Encounter." In H.W. Janson, ed. Sculptura nei XIX Secolo. Bologna, 1979: 178 n. 21, 180-181, fig. 171.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 646, no. 1023, repro.

1988: Frèches-Thory, Claire. "The Art of Paul Gauguin." In The Art of Paul of Gauguin. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago; Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris. Washington, D.C., 1988: 183-184, no. 104, color repro.

1994: Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 96, repro.

2000: Art Nouveau, 1890-1914. Exh. cat. Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art. London, 2000: no. 122 (not in exhibition).

2000: Butler, Ruth, and Suzanne Glover Lindsay, with Alison Luchs, Douglas Lewis, Cynthia J. Mills, and Jeffrey Weidman. European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2000: 239-245, color repro.