1950s After "Where Are We Going?" by Paul Gauguin, Boho Chic First Edition Full-Color Print

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A Boho Chic style vintage First Edition full-color print, depicting detail N1 from Post-Impressionist painting "Where Do We Come From? … Read more A Boho Chic style vintage First Edition full-color print, depicting detail N1 from Post-Impressionist painting "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" by Paul Gauguin. Comes from a First Limited Edition art folio published in the 1950s. Printed on one side. Hand tipped-in on a board of heavy paper. Information regarding the original artwork is printed under the plate. Detailed. Beautiful rich colors. Excellent condition - never framed.

Overall 10.90"W x 14.5"H
Image 8.25"W x 10.25"H

In December 1897, Gauguin could no longer stand the life of intermittent sickness and increasing debt he was leading in Tahiti. he resolved to kill himself, but before doing so he decided to draw upon all his remaining strength to paint a last important composition. After completing this enormous composition, Gauguin went into the mountains, where his body would have been devoured by ants. He had no revolver, but he had arsenic which he had saved up. However, the dose he took apparently was too strong; vomiting counteracted the action of the poison. After a night of terrible suffering, he returned home. Soon afterward things started to take a slow turn to the better. Gauguin sent this painting to Paris, where it was shown at Vollard's in 1898. When the critic Andre Fontains commented, "In the large panel by Gauguin there is nothing that explains the meaning of the allegory," the painter wrote a lengthy reply:

"Yes, there is: my dream is intangible, it comprises no allegory; as Mallarme said, "It is a musical poem, it needs no libretto." Consequently the essence of a work, unsubstantial and out of reach, consists precisely of that which is not expressed; it flows by implication from the lines without color or words; it is not a material structure."

"I paint and dream at the same time, with no tangible allegory within my reach - due perhaps to a lack of literary education. Awakening with my work finished, I ask myself, Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? A thought which has no longer anything to do with the canvas, expressed in words quite apart on the wall which surrounds it. Not a title but a signature.

"I have tried to interpret my vision in an appropriate decor without recourse to literary means and with all the simplicity the medium permits: a difficult job. You may say that I have failed, but don't reproach me for having tried."

We currently have in stock 3 lithographs depicting 3 details of the large painting. Please let us know if you would like to purchase all 3 to receive a better price and combined shipping. See less