Paul GAUGUIN
1848 - 1903
Manao Tupapau (She Thinks of the Spirit / Spirit of the Dead Watching)
1894
Original lithograph
180 × 270 mm, margins 422 × 590 mm
Very fine trial proof on wove paper, with the dedication in ink à l’artiste O’Conor, Aita Aramoe, Paul Gauguin, from the edition of a few trial proofs (Mongan, Kornfeld, Joachim count 3 of them, including ours), before the edition of 100 impressions published by André Marty the same year, short restored tear at the center of the lower border, slight foxing visible especially on the lower margin, trace of the mat
Reference: Mongan, Kornfeld, Joachim 23 A
Provenance: O’Conor sale of the 7th February of 1956, Drouot, Paris (n° 23)
Gauguin made this print after a painting from 1892 currently housed at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. The dedication to his friend O’Connor featuring the Maori phrase Aita Aramoe meaning not forgotten shows Gauguin’s attachment to this artist. We can notice similar dedications on other artist’s prints