

by
Paul Gauguin
Ia Orana Maria
1891
Before embarking on a series of pictures inspired by Polynesian religious beliefs, Gauguin devoted this, his first major Tahitian canvas, to a Christian theme, describing it in a letter of March 1892: "An angel with yellow wings reveals Mary and Jesus, both Tahitians, to two Tahitian women, nudes dressed in pareus, a sort of cotton cloth printed with flowers that can be draped from the waist. Very somber, mountainous background and flowering trees . . . a dark violet path and an emerald green foreground, with bananas on the left. I'm rather happy with it." Gauguin based much of the composition on a photograph he owned of a bas-relief in the Javanese temple of Borobudur. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- Size:
- 44 3/4 x 34 1/2 in. (113.7 x 87.6 cm)
- Medium:
- Oil on canvas
- License:
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- For more:
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438821
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The White Horse 18988601
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Vase de fleurs 18817711
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