Te Faaturuma (The Brooding Woman)
Artist
Paul Gauguin
(French, 1848–1903)
Date1891
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 91.1 x 68.7 cm (35 7/8 x 27 1/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number1921.186
Label TextWhen the Worcester Art Museum acquired this painting in 1921, it was the first work by Gauguin to enter an American museum. Gauguin began painting as a hobby in 1875; in 1881, he left his family and career in banking to pursue art. He was loosely allied with the Impressionist circle before traveling to Tahiti in 1891, spending most of the remainder of his life in the South Seas in search of symbolism and subjects untouched by Western culture.
One of the earliest works completed in Tahiti, Te Faaturuma (also known as The Brooding Woman) depicts a woman and Polynesian interior in highly saturated, unnatural colors. The woman’s pose, resting her chin on one hand, is often associated with the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas, who once owned this painting.
ProvenancePossibly Gauguin sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, cat. no. 30, February 1895 (bought in); Georges Chaudet (dealer), by 1896; sold to Ambroise Vollard, 1896; sold to Edgar Degas, 1898; Edgar Degas sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, no. 41, March 26-27, 1918; Barbazanges Gallery, Paris, by 1921; sold to John Levy Galleries, New York, 1921; sold to the Museum, 1921 (as La Femme Accroupie).On View
Not on viewCollections
