Te Rerioa (The Dream)
Maker
(Artists)
1848-1903
1848-1903
Title
Te Rerioa (The Dream)
Date of Production
1897
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 95.1 cm (canvas)
Width: 130.2 cm (canvas)
Width: 130.2 cm (canvas)
Accession Number
P.1932.SC.164
Mode of Acquisition
Samuel Courtauld, gift, 1932
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Location
On display
Keywords
Label Text
Paul Gauguin painted this striking work a few years after settling in Tahiti, a French colony in the southern Pacific, and only weeks after Nevermore. It shows two women watching over a sleeping child in a room decorated with elaborate wood reliefs. The figures do not communicate, creating a sense of mystery. Gauguin meant the subject to be unclear. He titled the painting Te Rerioa (meaning ‘dream’ or ‘nightmare’ in Tahitian), writing to a friend: ‘everything is dream in this canvas, whether it be the child, the mother, the horseman on the road, or the dream of the painter. All of this has nothing to do with painting, some will say. Who knows? Maybe not’.
The exoticising representation of Polynesia was intended to appeal to a white European audience, perpetuating the fantasy of a natural paradise on the other side of the world.
The exoticising representation of Polynesia was intended to appeal to a white European audience, perpetuating the fantasy of a natural paradise on the other side of the world.
Provenance
Sent by Gauguin to Daniel de Monfreid, Paris 1897 (same as Nevermore); on deposit with Monfreid’s childhood friend, Dr Calmel, Béziers, in 1900; purchased by Gustave Fayet, Béziers in August 1903 for 3,300 French francs (with Te Arii Vahine and Rupe Rupe) and in his collection until his death in 1925; inherited by his son Léon; purchased by the dealer Paul Rosenberg, Paris in November 1928; purchased by Samuel Courtauld, London in July 1929 for £13,600; Courtauld Gift, 1932.
Exhibition History
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
Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne, National Gallery, London, 17/09/2018-20/01/2019 ...More
Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist, Art Institute of Chicago, 25/06/2017-10/09/2017; Grand Palais, Paris, 09/10/2017-21/01/2018
Collecting Gauguin: Samuel Courtauld in the 20's, The Courtauld Gallery, 20/06/2013-08/09/2013
Gauguin and Polynesia, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark, 24/09/2011-31/12/2011
Gauguin - Maker of Myth, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 21/02/2011-30/05/2011
Part of general displays, Los Angeles & California & USA, 09/05/2006-04/10/2006
Gauguin - Tahiti, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, 29/02/2004-27/06/2004
Gauguin - Tahiti, Grand Palais, Paris, 30/09/2003-19/01/2004
Paul Gauguin: Paradise Lost, Essen & Germany, 01/06/1998-01/10/1998
The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998 ...Less
The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019
Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne, National Gallery, London, 17/09/2018-20/01/2019 ...More
Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist, Art Institute of Chicago, 25/06/2017-10/09/2017; Grand Palais, Paris, 09/10/2017-21/01/2018
Collecting Gauguin: Samuel Courtauld in the 20's, The Courtauld Gallery, 20/06/2013-08/09/2013
Gauguin and Polynesia, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark, 24/09/2011-31/12/2011
Gauguin - Maker of Myth, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 21/02/2011-30/05/2011
Part of general displays, Los Angeles & California & USA, 09/05/2006-04/10/2006
Gauguin - Tahiti, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA, 29/02/2004-27/06/2004
Gauguin - Tahiti, Grand Palais, Paris, 30/09/2003-19/01/2004
Paul Gauguin: Paradise Lost, Essen & Germany, 01/06/1998-01/10/1998
The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998 ...Less
Inscriptions
Inscription: inscription : signed : bottom left centre : : TE RERIOA / P.Gauguin 97 / TAITI
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