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May 23, 2017

In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)

1889

Paul Gauguin

(French, 1848-1903)

France, 19th century

Oil on fabric

Framed: 123.8 x 106 x 7 cm (48 3/4 x 41 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 92.5 x 72.4 cm (36 7/16 x 28 1/2 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Powell Jones 1978.63

Location

222 Impressionism & Post-Impressionism

Did you know?

Gauguin likely painted this work of art during his time in a small coastal village called Pont-Aven where he sought to immerse himself in nature and escape modern civilization.

Description

Painted at Pont-Aven in northwest France, this depiction of a nude figure throwing herself into the sea suggests a metaphor for a modern European woman forsaking civilization and abandoning herself to her natural, primitive instincts. The simplified lines and exaggerated colors, especially the contrasting green and orange, seem invented rather than observed from life. Exhibiting the painting at the Café Volpini in Paris in 1889, Gauguin established himself as a leader of the Symbolist movement in art.

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Artist biography

Paul Gauguin

Gauguin spent the first seven years of his life with his mother and great uncle in Peru. In 1855 his mother took him back to France where he attended boarding school. He joined the merchant marine when he was seventeen and began traveling around South America. When Gauguin's mother died in 1868, Gustave Arosa, an art collector and photographer, became his legal guardian. Arosa's collection included works by Corot (q.v.), Courbet (q.v.), Delacroix (q.v.), and the Barbizon painters, and it was he who would encourage Gauguin to start painting. In 1872 Arosa found a job for Gauguin at a brokerage firm, giving him financial security. The following year he married a Danish woman, Mette Gad. Gauguin had already started painting and sculpting in his spare time and first exhibited at the Salon in 1876 with a landscape.1 He was asked by Pissarro (q.v.) and Degas (q.v.) to participate in the fourth impressionist exhibition in 1879, where from then on he would exhibit regularly. Durand-Ruel began purchasing his paintings, and in turn Gauguin started to collect the works of his colleagues, such as Manet (q.v.) and Renoir (q.v.) and, in particular, Cézanne (q.v.) and Pissarro. He went to Pontoise in 1882, where he painted with Cézanne and Pissarro, who along with Degas continued to influence him at this period. In 1883 Gauguin decided to become a full-time artist. In 1884 he moved with his wife and children to Rouen and then to Copenhagen, but he failed to earn a comfortable living. He returned to Paris in 1886 and met ceramicist Ernest Chaplet (1835-1909), who introduced him to his métier. Gauguin distanced himself from impressionism and in 1888 worked in Pont-Aven with Émile Bernard (1868-1941), who had been experimenting with creating compositions using flat areas of color and dark outlines (cloissonism). Gauguin also studied Japanese prints and Indonesian art. The impact of these influences is evident in Gauguin's Vision after the Sermon: Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (1888, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh), so far removed from his earlier impressionist style. Succumbing to van Gogh's (q.v.) many requests, Gauguin agreed to travel to Arles and paint with the artist; their characters, however, proved incompatible. Theo van Gogh, who worked for Boussod Valadon & Cie, would in the meantime sell Gauguin's work. For the next two years, Gauguin traveled often around Brittany. In search of a more pure and unspoiled culture, he auctioned off his paintings in 1891 in order to finance a journey to Tahiti. Upon his arrival, he was disappointed to find many expatriates and developed areas, yet he was still able to capture in his works an uncultivated spirit. He not only made paintings but also created bold woodcuts and sculptures and was an avid writer. Gauguin returned to France in 1893, where he was given a solo exhibition by Durand-Ruel that was not particularly successful. He decided to leave Europe again in 1895, moving to Tahiti and later to Hivaoa, a more remote island in the Marquesas. Because he abandoned naturalistic colors and used formal distortions in order to achieve expressive compositions, Gauguin's work became an inspiration for many subsequent artists. 1. Possibly Wildenstein 1964, no. 12.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed lower center: P Gauguin. 89-

Provenance

On consignment with Boussod & Valadon, Paris, 1890, under the title given by Gauguin, Femme nue dans la vague, valued at ff 400 (see, Rewald 1973, 49). Paris, Gauguin sale, 23 February 1891 (lot 14), Une Ondine, for ff 320 to M. Jeanson. Sold by Joseph Hessel to Gustave Fayet, Paris, March 1906. In February 1907 Fayet sold it together with a Gauguin self-portrait for ff 24,000 to Vollard, Paris. Ordrupgaard, Denmark. Paul Éluard, Paris, who probably bought it at Galerie Dru in 1923. Paris sale, Drouot, 12 December 1927 (lot 103 repr.), L'ondine (for ff 10,080 according to Wildenstein 1964; but according to annotated auc-tion catalogue in the Frick Art Reference Library, N.Y., sold for 46,100 to Hessel). Leicester Galleries, London, 1928. Bought in 1929 by Frank H. Ginn, Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Powell Jones, Gates Mills, Ohio. Given to the CMA on 20 November 1978.

Citations

Robinson, William H. "Puvis De Chavannes's "Summer" and the Symbolist Avant-Garde." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 1 (1991): 2-27. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 13-14 www.jstor.org

Robinson, William H. "Vuillard's Under the Trees from the Nabi Cycle The Public Gardens." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 4 (1992): 111-27. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 113 www.jstor.org

Pinchon, Pierre. "Tahiti Mysterieux Rivage 1890-1895." Dossier de l'art, 252 (September 2017): 28-45. Reproduced: p. 31

Groom, Gloria Lynn, ed. Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2017. Reproduced: p. 56 (detail); pp. 190-191, cat. #118; Mention: p. 188

Fémelat, Armelle. Gauguin, d'art et de liberté. Neuilly-sur-Seine: Michel Lafon: BeauxArts Éditions, 2017. Reproduced: P. 112

Guégan, Stéphane. Gauguin: voyage au bout de la terre. Paris: Chêne Editions, 2017. Reproduced: P. 122

Tate Gallery. "Exhibition Diary: Autumn Highlights." Tate Etc. 41 (Autumn 2017): 14. Reproduced: p. 14

Brettell, Richard R. On Modern Beauty: Three Paintings by Manet, Gauguin, and Cezanne. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019. Reproduced: P. 45, no. 29

Jamet, Christian. Gauguin: Les Chemins de la Spiritualité. Paris: Cohen&Cohen, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 78-81, ill. 46

Exhibition history

Paris, Café de M. Volpini. Exposition de peintures du Groupe Impressionniste et Synthétiste (1889), no. 44, Dans les vagues.

Paris, Société du Salon d'Automne au Grand Palais. (1906), no. 25, L'Ondine (Bretagne), G. Fayet collection.

Paris, Galerie L. Dru. Exposition rétrospective de P. Gauguin (1923), no. 12, 1889, La femme de la mer.

Basel, Kunsthalle. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1928), no. 59, Die Welle, Leicester Galleries, London.

Berlin, Galerie Thannhauser. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1928), no. 42.

New York, Museum of Modern Art. Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Van Gogh (1929), no. 42 (repr.).

Cleveland, Kinney and Levan Building. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition under the Auspices of the Cleveland School of Art (1936), no. 275.

New York, Wildenstein. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1936), no. 11.

Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1936), no. 12.

Toledo Museum of Art. Cézanne-Gauguin (1936), no. 4 (repr.), lent by Mr. and Mrs. Frank H. Ginn.

New York, Wildenstein. A Loan Exhibition of Paul Gauguin (1946), no. 6, lent by Mr. and Mrs. W. Powell Jones; 22 (repr.).

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Paul Gauguin, His Place in the Meeting of East and West (1954), no. 14 (Odine [sic] or Woman in the Waves).

New York, Wildenstein. Loan Exhibition: Gauguin (1956), no. 18, 37 (repr.).

Palm Beach, Society of the Four Arts; Coral Gables, Lowe Gallery of the University of Miami. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1956), no. 13 (repr.).

Art Institute of Chicago; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gauguin (1959), no. 18, 35 (repr.).

New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Gauguin and the Decorative Style (1966), 46.

London, Tate Gallery. Gauguin and the Pont-Aven Group (1966), 21, no. 17 (Woman in the Waves), 22, pl. 14c.

Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario; Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum. Vincent van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism (1981), 44, 65 (repr.), 204-5.

cma. Creativity in Art and Science (1987), no. 16, color pl. III.

Washington/Chicago/Paris. The Art of Paul Gauguin (1988-89), 74, 199, no. 80 (repr.) (English ed.); no. 80 (repr.) (French ed.).

Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery. Gauguin and the School of Pont-Aven (1994-95), 43, add. no. 1 (repr.).

Hartford, CT: Wadsworth Atheneum (1/26/01-4/20/01) "Gauguin's Nirvana. Painters at Le Pouldu 1889-90" color repr. p. 132, cat. no. 3, fig. no. 178, p. 149.

The Cleveland Museum of Art (06/21/2005 - 09/11/2005); "CMA Highlights"

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (9/28/2004 - 1/9/2004): "Gauguin and the Origins of Symbolism"

CMA (organizer). Beijing World Art Museum, China, May 26 - Aug. 27, 2006; Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan: Sept. 9 - Nov. 26, 2006; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea: Dec. 18, 2006 - March 31, 2007; Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea: Apr. 7 - May 20, 2007; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: June 9 - Sept. 16, 2007; Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2007- January 13, 2008; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, Feb. 21-June 1, 2008; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22 - September 21, 2008; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI, October 12, 2008 - January 18, 2009: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art"

Cleveland Museum of Art (10/4/2009 - 1/18/2010; Van Gogh Museum of Art (2/19/2010 - 6/6/2010): "Paul Gauguin: Paris, 1889", ex. cat. no. 43

Tate Modern, London (9/20/2010 - 1/24/2011) and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (2/21/2011 - 5/30/2011): "Gauguin: Maker of Myth", ex. cat. 92, p. 161.

Ordrupgaard, Denmark (2/6/2014 - 6/22/2014): "Friction of Ideas: Gauguin, Van Gogh, Bernard"

Art Institute of Chicago IL (6/25/2017 - 9/10/2017) and RMN - Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France (10/9/2017 - 1/12/2018): "Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist"

Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979).

Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).

The Art of Paul Gauguin. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer) (May 1-July 31, 1988); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (September 17-December 11, 1988); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France, Paris, France (January 9-April 24, 1989).

Gauguin's 'Nirvana'. Painters at Le Pouldu, 1889-1890. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (organizer) (January 27-April 29, 2001).

Gauguin and the Origins of Symbolism. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (September 28, 2004-January 9, 2005).

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).

Paul Gauguin: Paris, 1889. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 18, 2010); Van Gogh Museum, 1070 AJ Amsterdam, Netherlands (February 18-June 6, 2010).

Gauguin: Maker of Myth. Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (September 30, 2010-January 18, 2011); National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (February 21-May 30, 2011).

Friction of Ideas: Gauguin, Van Gogh, Bernard. Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund, Copenhagen, Denmark (organizer) (February 6-June 22, 2014).

Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (June 25-September 10, 2017); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (October 9, 2017-January 21, 2018).

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{{cite web|title=In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1978.63|author=Paul Gauguin|year=1889|access-date=17 October 2021|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)

In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)

Paul Gauguin

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Paul Gauguin

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