PAUL GAUGUIN (1848-1903)

The experimental technique of this fine impression suggests that it may be a trial proof made in preparation for the edition printed by Louis Roy. The underlying colour, a watery reddish-brown ink, has been brushed onto the block and then printed, creating a more painterly effect differing from the edition, where the brown ink is more viscous and evenly applied with a roller. The block was re-inked in black and perhaps deliberately miss-registered, to allow the underlying brown tone to show through. Finally, the bright yellow was printed with a stencil over the central black body, creating a veil over the figure which contrast subtly from the tulgey darkness of the tropical night.
Mongan, Kornfeld & Joachim record three trial proofs. This impression was not known to them, but relates closely to the example cited, formerly with William Weston, London, now in the collection of the Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo.
This print originally comes from the private collection of the New York art dealer and publisher, Erhard Weyhe, of the eponymous Weyhe Gallery, Lexington Avenue, which specialized in prints, drawings and art books.