Tahitian Woman Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903). Tahitian Woman, ca. 1894. Charcoal and pastel on paper, glued to yellow wove paper and mounted on grey millboard, 21 5/8 x 19 1/2in. ( x ). In 1890 Paul Gauguin wrote of his attraction to the French colony of Tahiti in a manner that exemplifies “primitivism,” European artists’ fascination with non-Western art and cultures, whose complexities they disregarded and which they saw as less developed and purer than their own: “I’ll flee to the woods on an island in Oceania, there to live on ecstasy, calm, and art. With a new family by my si

Tahitian Woman Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903). Tahitian Woman, ca. 1894. Charcoal and pastel on paper, glued to yellow wove paper and mounted on grey millboard, 21 5/8 x 19 1/2in. ( x ). In 1890 Paul Gauguin wrote of his attraction to the French colony of Tahiti in a manner that exemplifies “primitivism,” European artists’ fascination with non-Western art and cultures, whose complexities they disregarded and which they saw as less developed and purer than their own: “I’ll flee to the woods on an island in Oceania, there to live on ecstasy, calm, and art. With a new family by my side, far from this European scramble for There, in Tahiti, in the silence of the beautiful tropical nights, I will be able to listen to the soft murmuring music of the movements of my heart in amorous harmony with the mysterious beings around me.” A year later, he was disappointed to discover that Tahiti was not the pristine paradise of romantic literature and travelogues, observing that the indigenous community and its culture had lost their “ancient ways” and “poetry” because of French missionary activity. Nevertheless, the artist created his own imaginary Tahiti, largely centered on the native women—and young girls—on whom he projected his own exotic and sensual fantasies. Works such as this pastel broke new artistic ground with their heightened, expressive color and bold forms and greatly influenced many twentieth-century modernists. At the same time, they reveal the disturbing sexual and racial dynamic of his objectifying gaze. This unidentified sitter is likely one of the girls (perhaps Tehamana) to whom Gauguin transmitted syphilis, which killed him at the age of fifty-four. In 1921 Tahitian Woman was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in a landmark show of modern French paintings. When the Museum purchased it that year, it became one of the first Gauguins in a public American collection, reflecting this institution’s commitment to modern a

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