# Tahitian Faces (Frontal View and Profiles)

**Paul Gauguin** (French, 1848–1903)  
ca. 1899  
Charcoal on laid paper  
Sheet: 16 1/8 x 12 1/4 in. (41 x 31.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.418. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337172).

## About this work

A Tahitian woman’s face is studied from the front and in profile, in soft charcoal on laid paper. Gauguin made sheets like this in Tahiti around 1899, recording features and expressions that he could reuse in paintings, and the repeated heads, set side by side, have the solemn, sculptural presence he admired in non-European art. The rich blacks and smudged tones give the faces a quiet monumentality.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Paul Gauguin drew this in about 1899, aged about 46. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Charcoal.** Burnt willow or vine. It smudges and wipes away easily, which made it the natural tool for working out a composition.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [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: Drawings
- The artist was about 46
- Real size: about 16 × 12 in (41 × 31 cm). The 12 × 16 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Subjects: Women
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1014.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1014/1920.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/tahitian-faces-frontal-view-and-profiles-met-337172).