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In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)
Paul Gauguin1889
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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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Details
- Title: In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)
- Creator: Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903)
- Date Created: 1889
- Physical Dimensions: 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.)
- Provenance: On consignment with Boussod & Valadon, Paris, FR., (Gauguin sale, Paris, FR, February 23, 1891, lot 14, to M. Jeanson), (Joseph Hessel, Paris, FR, March 1906, sold to Gustave Fayet), (Gustave Fayet [1865–1925], Paris, FR, February 1907, sold to Ambroise Vollard), (Paul Éluard, Paris, FR, who probably bought it at Galerie Dru in 1923), (Drouot, Paris, FR, December 12, 1927, lot 103, sold to Hessel), Leicester Galleries, London, UK., Purchased by Frank H. Ginn, Cleveland, OH, Mr. and Mrs. Powell Jones, Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art., The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1978.63
- Medium: oil on fabric
- Inscriptions: Signed lower center: P Gauguin. 89-
- Fun Fact: 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.
- Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Culture: France, 19th century
- Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Powell Jones
- Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
- Accession Number: 1978.63
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