Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)
Te Atua (The Gods), from Noa Noa, Winter 1893–94
Woodcut printed in black, brown, orange, red, and green on cream wove paper, mounted on beige cardboard
Sheet: 8 1/8 x 14 1/16 in. (20.6 x 35.7 cm)
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1962.73
In this frieze-like composition, a Javanese Buddha figure at center is flanked at left by two Tahitian gods: Hina, goddess of the moon, and her son Fatu, god of the earth. Above the central figure, the artist’s deep gouging into the woodblock creates an aura of pulsating light.