L'Univers est créé (The Universe is Created)
L'Univers est créé (The Universe is Created)
L'Univers est créé (The Universe is Created)
L'Univers est créé (The Universe is Created)

Currently not on view

L'Univers est créé (The Universe is Created),

1893–94, printed in 1921

Paul Gauguin, 1848–1903; born Paris, France; died Atuona, Marquesas Islands
Printed by Pola Gauguin, French, 1883–1961
Printed at Cabinet des Estampes, Bibliothèque Nationale de France
2009-106
When Gauguin returned from his first voyage to Tahiti (1891–93), the bold exoticism and Tahitian titles of the paintings he brought back shocked Parisian audiences. In an attempt to explain his stylistic transformation, the artist began to write Noa Noa (Fragrant Scent), a highly fictionalized account of his Polynesian experience. Gauguin also produced ten woodcuts, in what he imagined to be a native Oceanic style, as illustrations to his text. While Noa Noa was never published with his illustrations as intended, the woodcuts proved to be influential in modernist printmaking circles. In 1921 the artist’s son, Pola, printed a posthumous edition of the surviving Noa Noa woodblocks, including a scene based on Tahitian mythology

Information

Title
L'Univers est créé (The Universe is Created)
Dates

1893–94, printed in 1921

Maker
Paul Gauguin
Printed by Pola Gauguin
Medium
Woodcut printed in black and light gray ink on light gray Japanese paper, pasted onto light blue-gray mount
Dimensions
block: 20.3 × 35.3 cm (8 × 13 7/8 in.) sheet: 26.8 x 43.2 cm. (10 9/16 x 17 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Felton Gibbons Fund
Object Number
2009-106
Place Made

Europe, France, Paris

Inscription
Numbered in graphite above block, upper left: No. 54 Titled in block, lower left: L'Univers est créé Initialed in block, lower right: PGO Inscribed and signed in graphite below block, lower left and right corners: Paul Gauguin fect / Pola Gauguin imp.
Reference Numbers
Guérin 26; Mongan and Kornfeld 18
Culture
French, European
Type
prints, woodcuts
Materials
printing ink
Techniques
woodcut (process)
Subject
black, seashores, plants, gods, figures (representations), creation, women, strong yellowish pink

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The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.

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