Image © Experience Music Project
Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903). Maternité [II], 1899. Oil on burlap. 37 3/8 x 24 1/16 in. Private Collection of Paul G. Allen.
Maternité [II] was painted during Gauguin's self-imposed exile to Papeete during the years 1895-1901. He'd left France for the second and final time, and returned to Oceania vowing never to paint again " ...except as a distraction." Ironically, these years, optimistically dedicated to rest and restoration, saw Gauguin at the lowest points of his personal life: his beloved daughter died, his own health was poor, he had no money and, eventually, became so disheartened that he tried to commit suicide.
Gauguin seemed to experience rapid - if intermittent - bursts of creativity during this period. Maternité [II] was painted two years after his masterpiece Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? (1897), and shares much of the latter's brilliant use of color, distorted figures and unrestrained execution. Two of the three women in Maternité [II] seem to stare at us dispassionately - perhaps reflecting Gauguin's ever-increasingly skeptical view of life.
This painting is paired with Kenji Yanobe's Atom Suit: Project: Desert 1 (1998) in the exhibition Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein. Points to ponder: both depict "otherworldly" figures placed without a fixed horizon, and we've been given no clear idea of that which either is meant to depict.
About the Exhibition:
"Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein" is on view from April 8 through September 24, 2006 at the Experience Music Project, 325 5th Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 (on the Seattle Center Campus; Telephone 206.367.5483 or 1.877.367.5483). The EMP is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Friday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Extended summer hours (effective Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend) are 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. "Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein" is a ticketed exhibition. Information on pricing and online purchasing of tickets is available here.
Gauguin seemed to experience rapid - if intermittent - bursts of creativity during this period. Maternité [II] was painted two years after his masterpiece Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? (1897), and shares much of the latter's brilliant use of color, distorted figures and unrestrained execution. Two of the three women in Maternité [II] seem to stare at us dispassionately - perhaps reflecting Gauguin's ever-increasingly skeptical view of life.
This painting is paired with Kenji Yanobe's Atom Suit: Project: Desert 1 (1998) in the exhibition Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein. Points to ponder: both depict "otherworldly" figures placed without a fixed horizon, and we've been given no clear idea of that which either is meant to depict.
About the Exhibition:
"Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein" is on view from April 8 through September 24, 2006 at the Experience Music Project, 325 5th Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98109 (on the Seattle Center Campus; Telephone 206.367.5483 or 1.877.367.5483). The EMP is open Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Friday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Extended summer hours (effective Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend) are 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. "Double Take: From Monet to Lichtenstein" is a ticketed exhibition. Information on pricing and online purchasing of tickets is available here.