Mahana no atua (Day of the God)
Paul Gauguin, 1894
Drawn from fantasy and memory, this composition is one of the most abstract and avant-garde works of Gauguin's career. In a tropical paradise, a deity presides over figures by an embankment. Arranged in groups, the figures appear more as symbolic forms than as individuals. Pools of water in interlocking zones of acidic color surround the feet of a bather, who is flanked by two prone figures—or perhaps the same person seen from two angles.
| Artist | Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903) |
|---|---|
| Medium | Oil on linen canvas |
| Size | 68 × 91 cm (26 7/8 × 36 in.); Framed: 87.7 × 110.5 × 6.4 cm (34 1/2 × 43 1/2 × 2 1/2 in.) |
| Origin | France |
| Type | Painting |
| Museum | Art Institute of Chicago · museum page |
| Rights | Public domain (CC0): free to download, print and hang. |
The original is 36 × 27 in. Will it fit your wall? →
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Merahi metua no Tehamana (Tehamana Has Many Parents or The Ancestors of Tehamana)1893
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Arlésiennes (Mistral)1888
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Image, title, dates, medium and the note are the Art Institute of Chicago's own records, released under CC0; nothing on this page is written by us beyond the links.