Eve
Paul Gauguin · 1898–99 · Cleveland Museum of Art
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In his quest to reconcile the Gospels of the New Testament with the spirit of modern science, Gauguin created 14 woodcuts that mix Christian and Polynesian imagery to create the visual equivalents of parables or fables. Here, Eve’s gesture of modesty recalls earlier representations of her expulsion from the Garden of Eden, but the disembodied hooded head, the tupapau (a Tahitian evil spirit), and the rat (the shadow of a ghost) are Polynesian symbols. Combining Eve, an image of guilt and violation, with Tahitian symbols of death increases the potency of the scene. This special impression of Eve is the only known example of the first state in which the black shape in the lower right is blank, before the block was changed; additional white lines appear on Eve and the rat.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0
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Details
- Maker
- Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903)
- Date
- 1898–99
- Medium
- woodcut
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 27 x 20.5 cm (10 5/8 x 8 1/16 in.)
- Place of origin
- France
- Held by
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · Not on view
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
Image: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0
More by Paul Gauguin
Shown in
- Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of ArtMar 9, 2014 – Jun 8, 2014
- Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of ArtOct 21, 2007 – Jan 13, 2008
- Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the CollectionAug 17, 2003 – Nov 9, 2003
- Inventive Impressions: 18th- and 19-Century French PrintsAug 26, 2001 – Oct 28, 2001
