Eve
1890
Artist, French, 1848 - 1903
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 83
Artwork overview
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Medium
glazed ceramic
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 60.6 x 27.9 x 27.3 cm (23 7/8 x 11 x 10 3/4 in.)
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Accession
1970.30.1
Artwork history & notes
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
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
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.
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).
Inscriptions
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
Wikidata ID
Q63854776