Maoris and Animals

Paul Gauguin's "Maoris and Animals" is a fascinating wood-block print from 1896, a period when the artist was deeply immersed in his life in Tahiti and exploring new expressive mediums. While Gauguin is renowned for his vibrant oil paintings, he was also an influential practitioner of wood engraving and woodcuts, using them to develop his Synthetist style and experiment with color. This print, with its yellow ocher ink, gray-blue watercolor, and touches of red, showcases his distinctive approach to color and form, moving away from the more naturalistic depictions of Impressionism. It reflects his ongoing quest to depict native life and the spiritual world, themes that became central to his work after he sought refuge from Western civilization in the South Pacific. The blend of media—wood-block print with watercolor—highlights Gauguin's experimental nature and his desire to evoke a sense of the exotic and the primal, a characteristic of his Post-Impressionist and Symbolist leanings.