Nevermore
Maker
(Artists)
1848-1903
1848-1903
Title
Nevermore
Date of Production
1897
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 60.5 cm (canvas)
Width: 116 cm (canvas)
Width: 116 cm (canvas)
Accession Number
P.1932.SC.163
Mode of Acquisition
Samuel Courtauld, gift, 1932
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
On display
Keywords
Label Text
Paul Gauguin painted Nevermore while living in Tahiti, an island in the southern Pacific colonised by France. Intended for a white European male audience, this image of a reclining nude belongs to a long artistic tradition. To the familiar theme however, Gauguin added a sense of exoticism and of unease. The young woman is not at rest but anxiously aware of the two figures behind her, who may be evil spirits. For modern viewers, her youth is the most disconcerting aspect. She is sometimes identified as Paul Gauguin’s 15-year-old companion Pahura. The painting’s title associates the bird on the ledge with Edgar Allan Poe’s poem ‘The Raven’. In it, a poet, driven mad by the death of his lover, hears a raven endlessly repeating ‘nevermore’.
This sense of loss may allude to Gauguin’s disillusionment at the destruction of Tahitian culture by French administrators and Church missionaries. This did not prevent him from taking advantage of his position as a European coloniser. Pahura was one of several teenagers that he took on as ‘wives’. The widespread racist fantasy of Tahitian girls as sexually precocious led to clear exploitation.
This sense of loss may allude to Gauguin’s disillusionment at the destruction of Tahitian culture by French administrators and Church missionaries. This did not prevent him from taking advantage of his position as a European coloniser. Pahura was one of several teenagers that he took on as ‘wives’. The widespread racist fantasy of Tahitian girls as sexually precocious led to clear exploitation.
Provenance
Sent by Gauguin from Tahiti to Daniel de Monfreid, Paris, 1897; purchased from him by Frederick Delius, Paris and Gretz-sur-Loing, 1898; purchased from him by Herbert Coleman, Manchester, through Goupil Gallery, London, circa 1922; purchased from Coleman (price unknown) by Samuel Courtauld before July 1924; Courtauld Gift, 1932
Exhibition History
After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art, The National Gallery, London, 25/03/2023-13/08/2023
Masterpieces of Impressionism from The Courtauld Gallery, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 10/09/2019-15/12/2019; Aichi Prefectural Museum, Nagoya, Japan, 03/01/2020-15/03/2020; Kobe City Museum, Kobe, Japan, 28/03/2020-21/06/2020
The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019 ...More
Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne, National Gallery, London, 17/09/2018-20/01/2019
Collecting Gauguin: Samuel Courtauld in the 20's, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2013-08/09/2013
Paul Gauguin - Maker of Myth, Tate Modern & London & England, 30/09/2010-16/01/2011
Part of general displays, J Paul Getty Museum & Los Angeles & California & USA, 15/01/2003-28/04/2003
Into the 20th century - New Displays at the Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 10/10/2002
Paul Gauguin: Paradise Lost, Essen & Germany, 01/06/1998-01/10/1998
The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998
The Impressionists and after, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery & Birmingham & England, 1947 ...Less
Masterpieces of Impressionism from The Courtauld Gallery, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 10/09/2019-15/12/2019; Aichi Prefectural Museum, Nagoya, Japan, 03/01/2020-15/03/2020; Kobe City Museum, Kobe, Japan, 28/03/2020-21/06/2020
The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019 ...More
Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne, National Gallery, London, 17/09/2018-20/01/2019
Collecting Gauguin: Samuel Courtauld in the 20's, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2013-08/09/2013
Paul Gauguin - Maker of Myth, Tate Modern & London & England, 30/09/2010-16/01/2011
Part of general displays, J Paul Getty Museum & Los Angeles & California & USA, 15/01/2003-28/04/2003
Into the 20th century - New Displays at the Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 10/10/2002
Paul Gauguin: Paradise Lost, Essen & Germany, 01/06/1998-01/10/1998
The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998
The Impressionists and after, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery & Birmingham & England, 1947 ...Less
Inscriptions
Inscription: inscription : signed : top left & recto : : NEVERMORE / P. Gauguin 97/0. TAITI
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