Paul Gauguin

Gustave Fayet, Igny
Wildenstein & Co., Paris (acquired from the above)
Lord Victor Rothschild, Cambridge (acquired from the above in May 1935 and until at least 1955)
A. M. John T. Spaulding, Boston
Galerie Cazeau-Béraudière, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2002

(possibly) Weimar, Grossherzogliches Museum für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe am Karlsplatz, Ausstellung von Werken von Paul Gauguin, 1905, no. 15 (tltled Kopf einer Tahitanerin)
Paris, Le Portique, Gauguin, 1931, no. 36
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Paintings of the 19th and 20th Centuries, 1934, no. 13
London, Wildenstein, 19th Century Masterpieces, 1935, no. 10, illustrated in the catalogue
Edinburgh, The Royal Scottish Academy & London, Tate Gallery, Paul Gauguin: Paintings, Sculpture and Engravings, 1955, no. 39

'Gauguin', in Révue Le Portique, Paris, 1931, no. 36, mentioned
Charles Kunstler, Gauguin, peintre maudit, Paris, 1934, illustrated p. 123
John Rewald, Gauguin, Paris, 1938, illustrated p. 151
Raymond Cogniat, Gauguin, Paris, 1947, illustrated pl. 60
Lee Van Dovski, Paul Gauguin oder die Flucht vor der Zivilisation, Bern, 1950, no. 232, listed p. 347
Georges Wildenstein, Gauguin, Paris, 1964, no. 421, illustrated p. 163
Peter Kropmanns, 'The Gauguin Exhibition in Weimar in 1905', in The Burlington Magazine, London, January 1999, mentioned p. 30

The canvas has an old lining. There are a few very small spots of retouching on the extreme lower framing edge, visible under ultra-violet light. There are two very small spots of old paint loss in upper left corner. Apart from some slight stable craquelure throughout and a light horizontal stretcher mark across the centre, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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This intimate and iconic portrait of a young woman dates from Gauguin's first trip to Tahiti (1891-93). It is most likely one of his first depictions of an indigenous Polynesian, and given his attention to the details of the figure's face and the vibrant blossom in her hair, we can imagine just how fascinated Gauguin was with her image. When the artist first arrived in Papeette in 1891, he was generally discouraged by the predominantly European influences that he saw throughout the capital. Unlike the resplendent, tropical paradise he had imagined, Papeette was filled with uninspiring colonial architecture and heavily populated with French ex-patriots. To support himself, Gauguin reluctantly accepted a few portrait commissions from his fellow colonists, but he longed to find more 'exotic' subjects for his paintings. The opportunity to paint this poised young model, whose dark, distinctive features were nothing like those of European women, must have been an exciting challenge for him. 

Gauguin's first portraits of native Tahitian men and woman were mostly drawings, but as he continued to explore the island he turned his attention to oils. As Christoph Becker explains, 'At first, Gauguin was interested primarily in the people. Without understanding their language, he saw them as personification of the strange culture that had originally attracted him to Tahiti. During the first few months of his stay, he did numerous studies of heads, mainly of young men and women who belonged to the "native" population of the island.' (C. Becker, Paul Gauguin, Tahiti (exhibition catalogue), Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, 1998, p. 24).

Although the model's identity in this picture is not clear, it can be assumed that she bears many of the characteristics of other Tahitian women Gauguin was meeting in 1891 (fig. 1). The artist probably painted this portrait around the time he made the acquaintance of Titi, a young Tahitian woman who accompanied the artist from Papeette to the rural province of Mataiea. Titi only remained with the him for a few weeks before returning to the city, but shortly after her departure Gauguin found himself another female companion named Teha'amana. Gauguin met Teha'amana in the eastern part of the country where her family offered her to the artist as his vahine or bride. Only a young teenager at the time and also a possible model for this picture, Teha'amana became the inspiration for several of the artist's depictions of young Tahitian women until he returned to Paris in 1893 (fig. 2).   

The first owner of this work was Gustave Fayet (1865-1925), the French artist and major collector of Gauguin's work. As a painter, Fayet aspired to achieve a Symbolist style similar to that of Gauguin and Odilon Redon. While his own paintings are not widely known, the paintings from Fayet's extraordinary collection are renowned throughout the world. Beginning in 1903 and until his death in 1925, Fayet lent several of his Gauguin oils to major international retrospectives on the artist's work. After this picture left Fayet's collection, it was eventually acquired by Georges Wildenstein, the dealer and author of the first edition of the Gauguin catalogue raisonné.  

 

 

Fig. 1, A Tahitian woman (possibly Teha'amana or Teipa), 1888. Photograph attributed to Georges Spitz

Fig. 2, Paul Gauguin, Vahine no te tiare (Femme à la fleur), 1891, oil on canvas, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Fig. 3, Paul Gauguin, Femmes de Tahiti, 1891, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris