# Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary)

**Paul Gauguin** (French, 1848–1903)  
1891  
Oil on canvas  
44 3/4 x 34 1/2 in. (113.7 x 87.6 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 51.112.2. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438821).

## About this work

A Tahitian woman in a red pareo carries a child on her shoulder, both crowned with halos, while two women approach with hands joined in prayer, guided by an angel with yellow wings half hidden among flowering shrubs. The title, painted at lower left, means ‘Hail Mary’ in Tahitian, the first words of the angel’s greeting to the Virgin. Gauguin painted it in 1891, his first year in Tahiti, transposing a Christian subject into a lush island setting; the pose of the praying women came from a photograph of a relief at the Buddhist temple of Borobudur in Java.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Paul Gauguin painted this in 1891, aged 43. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [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: Paintings
- The artist was 43
- Real size: about 45 × 34 in (114 × 88 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Subjects: Women, Landscapes, Angels, Virgin Mary, Jesus
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1196.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1196/1920.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/ia-orana-maria-hail-mary-met-438821).