Cleveland Museum of Art

Maruru (Offerings of Gratitude)

Paul Gauguin

Date

1893–94

Medium

woodcut on pink paper

Culture

France, 19th century

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

In 1891 Paul Gauguin traveled to Tahiti, seeking a more authentic style of art making than the conservatism he rejected in Western culture. After returning to Paris in 1893, he began working on Noa Noa, an illustrated book that explained and illustrated his experiences abroad. Although the project was never completed, this print is one of its illustrations. Gauguin depicted a lush landscape by chiseling roughly into a woodblock, a technique meant to suggest relief sculpture he viewed in Tahiti. This style is emphasized by the irregularly applied ink of Maruru —one of only a few impressions Gauguin printed himself. The majority of prints from Noa Noa were printed by the master printer Louis Roy or, later, by Paul Gauguin's son Pola, making this impression particularly rare.

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