Artwork Page for Noa Noa: The Devil Speaks (Mahna No Varua Ino) (recto)

Details / Information for Noa Noa: The Devil Speaks (Mahna No Varua Ino) (recto)

Noa Noa: The Devil Speaks (Mahna No Varua Ino) (recto)

1893–1894

Paul Gauguin

(French, 1848–1903)
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Culture
France, late 19th century
Medium
woodcut
Support
Yellow Canari paper
Measurements
Sheet: 20.5 x 32.1 cm (8 1/16 x 12 5/8 in.); Image: 20.3 x 31.9 cm (8 x 12 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Jane B. Tripp Charitable Lead Annuity Trust 2008.149.a
Catalogue raisonné
Guerin 95
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

In 1921, Paul Gauguin's son Pola printed a new edition of his father's Noa Noa prints, wiping the woodblocks cleanly so the images were more legible.

Description

In 1893, Paul Gauguin returned to Paris from time spent in Tahiti. He began to conceive of a book that would describe his life outside Europe and provide context for the avant-garde works he created while away. This print is one of a series of ten intended to illustrate this book, which Gauguin titled Noa Noa. He carved each image roughly into a woodblock and printed them himself, giving the prints a rough quality that he hoped would enhance their subject matter. Because of this process, combined with the artist's practice of varying his inks and papers while working, prints such as this one are virtually unique.
A horizontally oriented woodcut print of black ink on yellow-ochre paper features expressive hatched lines and grainy textures. A crouched, light-toned figure faces a large, textured vertical form representing the Devil in the center. In the upper right, a stylized light hand points upward. Frenetic marks create deep shadows that partially obscure the organic shapes, filling the scene with dense patterns that contrast against the yellowed background.

Noa Noa: The Devil Speaks (Mahna No Varua Ino) (recto)

1893–1894

Paul Gauguin

(French, 1848–1903)
France, late 19th century

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