Open IIIF manifest What is IIIF IIIF viewers

Two studies of the head of a bearded man (recto)

Maker

(artist)
1848-1903

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1891 - 1896

Medium

red chalk with some stumping and testing strokes of watercolour (recto), graphite and diluted bodycolour (verso), on wove paper from a sketchbook [same book as D.1981.XX.2]

Dimensions

Height: 27.4 cm
Width: 17.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1981.XX.3

Mode of Acquisition

Unknown, 1981

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Disappointed by his struggles as an artist in Paris, Gauguin left for Tahiti in 1891. There he became particularly fascinated by the intensity of colour and the natural beauty of the local population – motifs that he documented in many drawings. This quick pencil sketch of two Tahitian women, wrapped in beautiful, bright cloth, was apparently originally from one of his sketchbooks. Later Gauguin would integrate similar figures into his woodcuts and paintings, thus using the drawing for a repertory of motifs.

Provenance

unidentified collector, L.2078; discovered in Courtauld storeroom in 1980 Discovered with Cezanne, Study of a Tree, Gauguin's Tahitian women, drawings by Delacroix and Stanley Spencer in Solander in Woburn Square storeroom, 1980, by William Bradford (see D.1981.XX.2-7).

Exhibition History

Collecting Gauguin: Samuel Courtauld in the 20's, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2013-08/09/2013

Special Display - French Drawings of the 19th century, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 08/02/2008-12/06/2008

The Courtauld Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 14/06/1998-21/09/1998 ...More

The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998 ...Less

Literature

Karren Serres, Collecting Gauguin - Samuel Courtauld in the '20s, Paul Holberton publishing 2013
cat. no. 17
no. 17 on pp. 52-53
ill. on p. 53

The Courtauld Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1998
cat. no. 46
no. 46 (recto) and fig. 21 (verso), both on p. 94

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower right corner, stamped: unidentified collector (L.2078) [according to Lugt should be blue ink, but is so faded no blue is visible].

Inscription: Recto: upper left corner, graphite: "43".

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection