Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)
Manao Tupapau (Watched by the Spirits of the Dead), from Noa Noa, Spring/summer 1894
Woodcut printed in yellow, orange, and black on beige wove paper
Sheet: 9 13/16 x 15 ¾ in. (25 x 40 cm)
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1981.152
In this reinterpretation of one of his most famous paintings, Gauguin presents a nude in a pose that suggests both birth and death. Two spirits in the background at right watch over her ominously.