Te Atua (The Gods) Small Plate

1898-1899

Paul Gauguin

Associated Names
Paul Gauguin

Artist, French, 1848 - 1903

The image consists of various shapes and lines forming figures and patterns. At the top is an arch-like shape enclosing a stylized face with flowing hair. Below, figures interact in a scene with curved lines creating a sense of movement. Two human-like figures are on either side, while abstract animal forms resembling a fowl or rooster are in the center. Swirling lines at the bottom suggest water or snakes, adding to the intricate and symbolic nature of the image.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    two laminated woodcuts on Japanese paper, double-mounted on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image (woodcut): 22.5 × 20.1 cm (8 7/8 × 7 15/16 in.)
    sheet: 24.5 × 22.2 cm (9 5/8 × 8 3/4 in.)
    sheet: 50.4 × 37.8 cm (19 13/16 × 14 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.4609

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Mongan et al. 1988, no. 53, State ii/ii (Bb)

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1944

  • Prints from the Rosenwald Collection, Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, TN, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1944.

1949

  • Nineteenth-Century French Prints from the Rosenwald and George Matthew Adams Collections, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1949.

1969

  • Gauguin and Exotic Art, University Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1969, no. 27.

1973

  • Dimensions of Polynesia, Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, 1973, no. XII.14.

1977

  • Paper in Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1977, no. 62 or 63.

1989

  • The Art of Paul Gauguin, Grand Palais, Paris, 1989, no. 232b.

2014

  • Gauguin: Metamorphoses, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2014, no. 133.

2025

  • Gauguin in the World, National Gallery of Australia, Parkes; and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2024-2025 (work only shown in Houston), no repro.

Bibliography

1927

  • Guérin, Marcel. L'Oeuvre gravé de Gauguin. 2 vols. Paris: H. Floury, 1927.

1988

  • Mongan, Elizabeth, Eberhard W. Kornfeld, and Harold Joachim. Paul Gauguin: Catalogue Raisonne of his Prints. Berne: Galerie Kornfeld, 1988.

  • Bretell, Richard R. 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: no. 232b.

2024

  • Loyrette, Henri._ Gauguin's world : Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao_. Exh. cat. Canberra: National Gallery of Art, Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2024: 273.

Inscriptions

recto: in block, at center: PG TE ATUA; verso: none

Markings

none

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q64960961

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