Paul Gauguin

Traced monotype in sanguine and black, with the drawing in pencil and red crayon on the reverse, circa 1901-02, a richly inked impression of this unique work with strong contrasts, cited and illustrated by Field, printed by the artist in the Marquesas, on fine japan paper

Ex coll. Aristide Maillol; John Rewald; Galerie Druet, Paris;
Sotheby's, July 7 1960, Lot 144; J. Speiregen, Cannes; August Laube, Zurich

A large sheet in remarkably good condition, there are six pinholes in upper part of image (only visible when held against the light), three minute tears along right edge of sheet, framed.
"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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

I have just done a series of experiments in drawings with which I am fairly well pleased, and I am sending you a tiny sample. It looks like a print, but it isn't. I used a thick ink instead of pencil that's all.

Paul Gauguin, 1900, in a letter to Ambroise Vollard.

The Crouching Tahitian Woman seen from the Back was printed in the Marquesas, where lacking any form of printing press, Gauguin continued to explore and develop the technique of the traced monotype. Initially employed as a cheap and easy method for the duplication of drawings, the monotype replaced the charcoal and pencil drawings produced during the last four years of Gauguin's life. A traced monotype involves tracing a design onto a sheet of paper which has been placed over a heavily inked sheet. The pressure of the drawing tool on the reverse of the top sheet picks up the ink of the second sheet underneath. Once the traced sheet is peeled off the inked sheet, the verso of the top sheet reveals the traced monotype and finished print.

The generic pose references Gauguin's painting Tahitiennes sur la plage (Wildenstein 462, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman, New York), made in 1892. In its present form, however, the print is a prototype of an idea that is perfected in the 1902 painting Femme Accroupie (W. 613, today lost) and L'Appel (W. 612, Cleveland Museum of Art). It is possible that the present work is a study in preparation for these works.

The process of tracing, repeating, reversing and changing scales was fundamentally a process of transformation and was essential to Gauguin's oeuvre. This can be seen in his explorations through different media which repeat the same motif: a drawing (exhibited in the recent Gauguin exhibition at the Tate, Private Collection, provenance Andre Fontainas), a traced monotype (printed in black only, sold at Christie's New York, 1997, lot 106, $266,500) and a gouache monotype of 1902 (Field 133).

Careful examination of Crouching Tahitian Woman reveals the white lines of the hid quarter of a dog, which is a trace of a lost monotype (Field 74); this enhances the rich complexity of the work.

The work has formally been in the collection of the artist Aristide Maillol (1861-1944) and the eminent Gauguin scholar, John Rewald (1912-1994). Aristide Maillol was a friend and supporter of Gauguin, who was influenced by his work; he modelled his terracotta Woman with Crabe of circa 1905 after this pose.