Volpini Suite: Design for a Plate: Leda and the Swan (Projet d'Assiette: Léda et le Cygne)

This zincograph was created in 1889 as part of the famous Volpini Suite, a groundbreaking portfolio of prints Gauguin exhibited at the Café Volpini during the Paris Universal Exposition. At this pivotal moment, Gauguin had recently returned from his influential time in Brittany and Martinique, where he developed his bold Synthetist style—characterized by flat areas of color, strong outlines, and symbolic content. This design reimagines the classical myth of Leda and the Swan as a decorative plate, reflecting Gauguin's interest in merging fine art with applied arts and ceramics, which he actively pursued throughout his career.

The choice of Leda and the Swan, a subject from Greek mythology where Zeus disguised as a swan seduces Leda, demonstrates Gauguin's engagement with Symbolist themes and his departure from Impressionist naturalism. The Volpini Suite marked a turning point in printmaking, as Gauguin used the industrial zincographic process in innovative ways to achieve bold, poster-like effects with simplified forms and strong contrasts. Created just two years before his first voyage to Tahiti, this work shows Gauguin already moving away from Western artistic conventions, seeking a more primitive, decorative aesthetic that would come to full fruition in his Tahitian paintings of the 1890s. The plate design format reflects his experimental approach to art-making that blurred boundaries between fine and decorative arts.