# Woman with a Cat

**Paul Gauguin** (French, 1848–1903)  
c. 1900  
Transfer drawing in brownish-black ink (recto); graphite and blue crayon pencil with brush and solvent washes in ocher on cream wove paper  
46.5 × 61.5 cm (18 5/16 × 24 1/4 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1991.217. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/116236).

## About this work

Gauguin developed this unusual technique in Tahiti around 1899: he inked a sheet, laid paper over it and drew on the back with pencil, so that the pressure transferred a soft, grainy line onto the underside, which became the finished image. The method gave his drawings a mysterious, smudged quality halfway between printmaking and drawing. Here a woman with a cat is evoked in brownish-black ink, with ochre washes on the other side of the sheet.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Paul Gauguin painted this in about 1900, aged 52. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of transfer drawing in brownish-black ink (recto); graphite and blue crayon pencil with brush and solvent washes in ocher on cream wove paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### 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 and Watercolor
- Culture: France
- The artist was 52
- Real size: about 18 × 24 in (46 × 61 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- 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/296.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/296/1920.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; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- 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; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- 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; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 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/woman-with-a-cat-aic-116236).