Volpini Suite: Old Women of Arles (Les Vieilles Filles [Arles])

In this zincograph from 1889, Paul Gauguin presents a stark, almost caricatured view of the "Old Women of Arles." The figures are rendered with heavy outlines and simplified forms, reflecting a move away from the delicate naturalism of Impressionism. Gauguin made this print as part of the "Volpini Suite," a series created during his stay in Arles, a period marked by his intense, yet ultimately fraught, collaboration with Vincent van Gogh. The composition, with its flattened perspective and dark, somber tones, emphasizes the women's isolation and perhaps the artist's own sense of detachment. The zincograph medium itself, a lesser-used printmaking technique, allowed for a directness in line and tone that suited Gauguin's evolving Symbolist aesthetic, capturing a raw, almost primitive energy that would become central to his later work.