Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)
350px | |
Artist | Paul Gauguin |
---|---|
Year | 1892 |
Type | Oil paint on canvas |
Dimensions | 68 by 92 centimetres (27 in × 36 in) |
Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
Fatata te Miti is an 1892 oil painting by French artist Paul Gauguin, located in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC.[1][2]
Painting
Gauguin painted Fatata te miti (By the Sea) in 1892 during his first trip to Tahiti. Like Vahine no te vi (Woman of the Mango) painted at the same time, it is an example of the relatively few straightforward genre scenes that Gauguin painted immediately after setting up his studio in a native bamboo hut at Mataiea, Papeari.[3] Nevertheless, as Nancy Mowll Mathews, biographer of Gauguin's erotic life, points out, neither represents what he actually saw; the paintings transforming the mundane and ordinary into an exoticized view of the island's life.[4] A pendant painting Arearea no varua ino (The Amusement of the Evil Spirit), executed shortly after Gauguin had returned to Paris, demonstrates how he moved on from simple genre painting, introducing symbolist elements.[3]
The painting depicts two naked Tahitian woman, seen from behind, jumping into the sea. There is a fisherman in the background, fishing with a spear. The painting epitomizes the romantic view of Tahitians made famous by Pierre Loti's Loki. The woman go bathing naked, removing their pareos, apparently unbothered by the presence of the fisherman nearby. This is an image of the uninhibited tropical paradise Gauguin had hoped to find, although the reality was that Polynesian culture had been transformed by western missionaries and colonialism as they imposed their own values and religion on the people living in the islands.[3][5]
The painting was previously owned by Chester Dale, who left his collection to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. in 1962.[6]
First Tahitian period
Looking for a society more elemental and simple than that in France, Gauguin auctioned thirty of his paintings and used the money to travel to Tahiti. This first visit lasted from 1891 to 1893. His book ca was written in the style of a travel journal and was originally meant to provide a context for his 1893 Paris exhibition. Gauguin first used the words "Noa Noa" reporting the words the Tahitians themselves used for the scent of Tahitian women: "Téiné merahi noa noa " meaning "(now) very fragrant".[7] The substantive Fenua ("land" or "island") is understood in the title of his book, so the correct translation is "The Fragrant Isle". Also implied is the Tahitian term for "Paradise" - Rohutu noanoa.[8] In the event his book remained unpublished until 1901, although extracts were published in La Revue Blanche in 1897.[9][10][11] The first European exhibition of Gauguin's work took place in March 1893 in Copenhagen, when he was able to take up the offer of a visiting sea captain and send out eight selected paintings.[12]
-
Gauguin, Paul - Woman Holding a Fruit (Eu haere ia oe).jpg
-
Gauguin, Paul - The Month of Mary (Te avae no Maria).jpg
-
Paul Gauguin 029.jpg
-
Paul Gauguin - Faaturuma (Melancholic) - Google Art Project.jpg
-
Gauguin, Paul - Vahine no te miti (Femme a la mer) (Mujer del mar). - Google Art Project.jpg
-
Paul Gauguin - Hina Tefatou - Google Art Project.jpg
-
Paul Gauguin - Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary) - Google Art Project.jpg
-
Paul Gauguin - Three Tahitians - Google Art Project.jpg
References and sources
- References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Stuckey pp. 276-7
- ↑ Mathews pp. 171-2
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Danielsson (1965) p. 158
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Mathews p. 247
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Danielsson p. 125
- Sources
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Mathews, Nancy Mowll (2001). Paul Gauguin, an Erotic Life. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09109-5.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Further reading
- Gauguin, Paul; Morice, Charles (1901). Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal of Paul Gauguin. In French
- Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal of Paul Gauguin. in English