PAUL GAUGUIN (1848-1903)Autoportrait Pencil and black crayon on paper13.9 x 11.5cm (5 1/2 x 4 1/2in).Executed in Le Pouldu circa 1889-1890Footnotes:Please note that this work will be presented to the Comité Paul Gauguin at the Wildenstein Plattner Institute on 30 September 2024. ProvenanceMarie Henry Collection, Le Pouldu (probably acquired directly from the artist).Léa 'Mimi' Henry Collection, France (by descent from the above); her sale, Drouot, Paris, 16 March 1959, lot 114.Marlborough Fine Art, London, no. 02258 (probably acquired at the above sale).Fritz Gross Collection, London, no. 396 (acquired from the above in November 1960).Private collection, London (by descent from the above).ExhibitedLondon, Marlborough Fine Art, XIX and XX Century European Masters, Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, Summer 1959, no. 23.Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Cent oeuvres de Gauguin, 1960, no. 64.Munich, Haus der Kunst, Paul Gauguin, 1 April - 29 May 1960, no. 89.Newcastle, Hatton Gallery, Impressionist and Modern: The art and collection of Fritz Gross, 11 May – 9 June 1990, no. 18 (later travelled to Oxford).LiteratureR. Nacenta, 'Gauguin', in Art et style, no. 55, 1960 (illustrated). K. Mittelstädt, Paul Gauguin, Self-portraits, Oxford, 1968, no. 17 (illustrated p. 61).Autoportrait is strongly tied to Paul Gauguin's time in Le Pouldu, a secluded coastal village in Britanny where the artist sought refuge in August 1889. Fleeing the commercialisation of Pont-Aven, Gauguin found a creative sanctuary at Buvette de la Plage, an inn run by Marie Henry (1859-1945) in the village. Along with Meijer de Haan (1852-1895) – whom Gauguin humorously referred to as his 'pupil' in his letters – the inn became a vibrant artistic hub, with its dining room transformed by murals and artworks executed by the two artists, which are still observable today. Marie Henry, who later became de Haan's lover, retained some of Gauguin's works, likely as compensation for his stay, as Gauguin had been living on credit. Passing thence by descent through the Léa 'Mimi' Henry Collection, this piece was subsequently acquired by Fritz Gross (1895-1969), the Austrian artist, architect and art collector. Gross, who escaped Nazi rule and moved to London in 1938, built an impressive collection of Impressionist and Modern art, including pieces by Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. His passion for collecting was celebrated in an exhibition dedicated to his collection held at the Ashmolean Museum in 1990.Autoportrait highlights the significance of Le Pouldu to Gauguin's creativity and self-exploration. In a letter to Émile Bernard during the winter of 1889, Gauguin expressed his desire to reinvent himself, stating: 'I hope that this winter you will find in me a new Gauguin... What I am trying to get at is a corner of myself which I do not yet understand' (M. Malingue, Paul Gauguin: Letters to his Wife and Friends, 2003, p. 122). His depiction in simple, native Breton attire reflects this quest for self-discovery and the incorporation of the local culture into his identity.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
