a) Manao Tupapau, 24 KB download
Translated Title - Spirit of the dead keeps watch.
Gauguin used Tehemana, his young Tahitian companion as model for this work, which was done in oil in 1892.
Even though there is minimal tonal transition, the sensuous accuracy of his drawing is mindboggling. I made this discovery, about which I only had a niggling suspiscion during my many previous viewings, only when I actually drew the contours of Tehemana's body on paper. There is an incredible intimacy in this work which, perhaps could only be achieved through close personal relationship with the subject, and of course - a Masterful Observation!
b) Women on Beach 31 KB download
One of my earliest Gauguin studies, the solidity of the composition attracted me. These are not fleeting beauties, but life as timeless and warm as the woman's bare shoulder.
37 KB download
d) Portrait of a Tahitian Lady, 28 KB download.
In the original oil, Gauguin has used a chrome yellow background to complement the woman's purple-violet dress. The solidity of structure, which to some may appear Cezannesque, has been muted somewhat by a dark yet delicate olive-umber hue to her forehead, merging with the siennas and crimsons of her downlit face.
The painting gave me great opportunity to render her luxuriant black hair in thick charcoal strokes.
Consider her eyes too.
