Mahana Atua (Day of the Gods)

1894, printed 1921

Paul Gauguin

Associated Names
Paul Gauguin

Artist, French, 1848 - 1903

Pola Gauguin

Printer, Danish, born France, 1883-1961

Christian Cato

Publisher

The image displays flowing, curvilinear lines and shapes giving it an abstract quality. The forms suggest figures and natural elements. Shapes in the upper portion resemble standing or walking figures. In the center and lower areas, lines sweep and curve to imply a flowing surface resembling water, and a form of a person beside a tree. The composition is filled with dynamic and organic shapes, creating an impression of a landscape with human activity, abstracted to emphasize fluidity and movement. Bold black and white contrasts add depth and enhance details within the shapes.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut on China paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 18.2 × 20.3 cm (7 3/16 × 8 in.)
    sheet: 26.3 × 42.8 cm (10 3/8 × 16 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.4606

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Mongan et al. 1988, no. 31, State ii/ii (Cb)

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1950

  • Gauguin in Tahiti, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1950.

1956

  • Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL; and The Lowe Gallery, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 1956, no. 53.

1996

  • The Collection Reviewed: Hina and Her Attendants by Paul Gauguin, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, 1996-1997, no catalogue

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.

Inscriptions

recto: in block, in image, at lower left: P G O; in block, in image, at lower right: Mahana Atua; above image, at left, in graphite: no 71; below image, at left, in graphite: Paul Gauguin fait; below image, at right, in graphite: Pola Gauguin imp.; at bottom center, in graphite, in later hand: The Feast of the Gods; verso: none

Markings

none

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q64960954

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