Gauguin's title, Faaturuma, is inscribed on the frame of
the unidentified landscape painting which hangs on  the back wall of
the room (surely one of the artist's own works). The Museum's
picture evokes a mood of quiet detachment or melancholia and
suggests something other than straightforward portraiture. The
arabesque forms of the dress and rocking chair seem to accentuate
the sitter's isolation, while the simple color scheme based on the
primary colors of red, yellow and blue further contribute to the
monumental character of the figure. The general composition seems to
have been inspired by Corot's La Lettre (The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York), a photograph of which is known to have
been among Gauguin's possessions in Tahiti. |
1891
Oil on canvas
37 x 26-3/4 inches (94.0 x 68.0 cm)
Purchase: Nelson Trust [38-5]
Gauguin painted this picture some three months after his arrival in Tahiti on June 8, 1891. Its subject traditionally has been identified as Tehura, the young mistress Gauguin describes in his journal, Noa Noa. Only recently have critics begun to doubt this identification. The age of this sitter--who appears in identical costume in the painter's Two Women on the Beach (1891; Musée d'Orsay, Paris)--can hardly be that of the 13-year-old Tehura.
