The Spirit of the Dead Watches (Manao Tupapau).
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Title |
The Spirit of the Dead Watches (Manao Tupapau). |
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Creator |
Gauguin, Paul (French painter and printmaker, 1848-1903) |
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Date |
1892 |
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Cultural Context |
French
European
Western European
Tahitian
Oceanic
Polynesian
Maori |
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Style/Period |
Post-Impressionist
Modern (styles and periods)
Modernist |
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Subject |
Girls
Teenagers
Nudes
Backs (Anatomy)
Fear
Ghosts
Women
Dead persons
Supernatural beings
Supernatural
Beds
Bedsheets
Pillows |
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Description |
“In various letters and diary notes the artist has explained how the preoccupation with ethnological problems, with the symbolism of colors, and certain literary concepts participated in the genesis of this canvas: ‘I painted the nude of a girl. In that position, a trifle can make it indecent. And yet I wanted her that way, the lines and the action interested me. Our girls would be embarrassed to be surprised in that position; the women here not at all. I gave her face a somewhat frightened expression (the fright must be pretended, if not explained, and this within the character of the person—a Maori). These people are very much afraid of the spirit of the dead. I had to explain her fears with as little literary means as possible. To achieve this, the general harmony is somber, sad, frightening, sounding to the eye like a death knell: violet, dark blue, and orange-yellow. I made the linen greenish-yellow, because the linen of these savages is different from ours; thus it brings on and suggests the factitious light. The Maori woman never lies down in the dark, and yet I did not want any effect of lamplight—it’s common. The yellow which connects the orange-yellow and the brown completes the musical accord. There are some flowers in the background but, being imagined, they must not be real. I made them resemble sparks. The Maoris believe that the phosphorescences of the light are the spirits of the dead. Finally, I made the ghost look very simply like a small, harmless woman, because the girl cannot but see the dead themselves bound to the spirit of the dead.’” (p.18) |
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Location Depicted |
Hiva Oa (French Polynesia)
Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia)
French Polynesia
Polynesia
Oceania
Tahiti (French Polynesia : Island) |
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Material |
Oil on canvas
Oil paint (pigmented coating)
Paint
Canvas |
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Measurements |
28 3/4 x 36 3/8" |
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Technique |
Painting (image-making)
Oil painting (technique) |
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Inscription |
Top left: manao tupapau |
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Work Type |
Paintings
Oil paintings |
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Repository |
Albright–Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, New York) |
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Source |
Rewald, John. Paul Gauguin. Great Art of the Ages. New York: Abrams, [1969]. (p.[19]) |
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Rights |
Photo/illustration credit/reproduced in Rewald courtesy: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (A. Conger Goodyear Collection). |
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Digital Publisher |
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center |
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Format |
image/jpeg |
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Digital File Name |
VRC 523-46.jpg |
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Rating |
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