Human Misery (Misères humaines)

1898-1899

Paul Gauguin

Associated Names
Paul Gauguin

Artist, French, 1848 - 1903

The image shows an abstract composition of flowing and curved lines. In the center, a figure with stylized hair appears in a thoughtful pose. The background contains abstract shapes suggesting a tree or bush, along with circular elements resembling fruit or foliage. Abstract forms like hearts and symbols are visible towards the bottom left. The arrangement of lines and shapes creates a scene connecting figures and natural settings in an abstract style.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut on Japan paper, perimeter mounted

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 19.3 x 29.1 cm (7 5/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
    sheet: 24.9 x 34 cm (9 13/16 x 13 3/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.4610

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Mongan et al. 1988, no. 49, State only state

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1956

  • Loan Exhibition. Gauguin. For the benefit of the Citizens' Committee fo Children of New York, Inc., Wildenstein and Company, New York, 1956, no. 96.

1960

  • Paul Gauguin, 1848-1903, Österreichische Galerie im Oberen Belvedere, Vienna, 1960, no. 110.

1983

  • Graphic Survey Show, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 1983.

1988

  • The Art of Paul Gauguin, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988, no. 244a.

2001

  • Gauguin's Nirvana: Painters at Le Pouldu 1889-90, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, 2001, no. 161.

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.

  • The Art of Paul Gauguin. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1988: no. 244a.

Inscriptions

recto: in block, at lower left: P G; in black ink, at lower left: No. 23; verso: none

Markings

none

Wikidata ID

Q64960963

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