# Head of a Tahitian Woman

**Paul Gauguin** (French, 1848–1903)  
1891  
graphite with stumping and graphite wash on parchment  
Sheet: 30.5 x 24.4 cm (12 x 9 5/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1949.439. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1949.439).

## About this work

This drawing belongs to a group of highly finished portrait drawings of Tahitians made by Paul Gauguin shortly after his arrival in the South Seas. While getting used to this new place, Gauguin initially avoided painting, preferring first to familiarize himself with the landscape and people through observation and drawing. The meticulous quality of this graphite study suggests that it was made from life. The woman’s noble face and enigmatic expression allude to the spirituality and melancholy that Gauguin sought to conjure in his Polynesian work.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Paul Gauguin drew this in 1891, aged 43. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Graphite.** Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

### [Paul Gauguin](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/paul-gauguin)

French, 1848–1903; born in Paris; died in Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands

Gauguin worked as a Paris stockbroker and collected the Impressionists before taking up painting full time in the 1880s, showing in the last five Impressionist exhibitions. At Pont-Aven in Brittany he developed a style of flat colour and bold outline, and in 1888 he spent nine turbulent weeks with Van Gogh in Arles. Seeking a simpler world, he sailed for Tahiti in 1891 and spent most of his remaining years in French Polynesia, dying in the Marquesas.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawing
- Culture: France, 19th century
- The artist was 43
- Real size: about 12 × 9½ in (31 × 24 cm). Closest to life size: the 11 × 14 in print.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/585.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/585/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/head-of-a-tahitian-woman-cma-127115).