PAUL GAUGUIN (1848-1903) Étude pour 'Deux femmes tahitiennes nues sur la plage' (recto); &#...

PAUL GAUGUIN (1848-1903) Étude pour 'Deux femmes tahitiennes nues sur la plage' (recto); Études (verso) pencil and sanguine on paper 27 x 17.9cm (10 5/8 x 7 1/16in). Executed circa 1891-1892 Footnotes: This work will be included in the forthcoming Paul Gauguin Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc. Provenance Private collection, Paris. Henry Scipio Reitlinger Collection, London; his estate sale, Sotheby's, London, 14 April 1954, lot 371. A. Mathews Collection (acquired at the above sale). O'Hana Gallery, London. Fritz Gross Collection, London, no. 165 (acquired from the above in November 1954). Private collection, London (by descent from the above). Provenance Henry Scipio Reitlinger Collection, London; his estate sale, Sotheby's, London, 14 April 1954, lot 371. O'Hana Gallery, London (possibly acquired at the above sale). Fritz Gross Collection, London, no. 165 (acquired from the above in November 1954). Private collection, London (by descent from the above). Exhibited London, Ohana Gallery, Selection of Small Paintings by Great Masters of the XIXth & XXth Centuries, 4 - 27 November 1954, no. 10. Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Cent oeuvres de Gauguin, 1960, no. 82. Munich, Haus der Kunst, Paul Gauguin, 1 April - 29 May 1960, no. 100. Newcastle, Hatton Gallery, Impressionist and Modern: The art and collection of Fritz Gross, 11 May – 9 June 1990, no. 19 (later travelled to Oxford). The recto of the present work is a study for Paul Gauguin's renowned painting Deux femmes tahitiennes nues sur la plage (c. 1892), now housed in the Honolulu Museum of Art in Hawaii, and it offers us an exciting glimpse into the artist's artistic process. Upon arriving in Papeete, Tahiti's capital, in 1891, Gauguin began a mission to document the island's landscapes and customs, having received both private and state sponsorship for this endeavour. A few months later, he moved to the more secluded village of Mataiea, where he became highly productive, creating numerous sketches and studies of the local inhabitants and their surroundings as preparatory work for larger, finished pieces. Over this two-year period, Gauguin finished sixty-six paintings. The present work's verso also presents an exciting working narrative, combining both studies from his time in Brittany, with the cow's head and classic Breton attire in the lower left, and studies from Tahiti in the form of the figure in the centre right and study for nose and lips, completed just above in red pencil. One can imagine the voracious artist sketching on the voyage, only to immediately take up pencil and paper upon landing to capture his latest environs. This work once formed part of the collection of Fritz Gross. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing