Throughout his life, Gauguin regularly returned to woodcarving as an artistic outlet. He tells of making his first carving at the end of 1854, aged 7, on the long sea journey returning from Peru to France. It is also likely that during the time that Gauguin served in the merchant navy, he encountered scrimshaw, the whaler’s art of engraving and carving bone or ivory, often to pass the time during long sea voyages. For Gauguin, woodcarving proved to be both an artistic choice and, during his time in the Pacific, a necessity when he ran short of canvas and paint.
In the case before you is a picture frame carved by Gauguin: the portrait of Gauguin is a detail from a photograph of the artist and his wife Mette, taken in Denmark in 1885, the last of the couple. On the right of the frame, Gauguin has carved a banker or stockbroker with a paunch stomach, possibly symbolising the career he quit in 1884. On the left is a thin bohemian artist in an eccentric hat and oversized coat, representing what he aspired to become. Further along is a female figure, probably representing Mette, with two interlaced letter Gs, reflecting their surnames ‘Gauguin’ and ‘Gad’.
On his second trip to Tahiti in 1895, Gauguin had a ten-day stopover in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand. There he visited both the Auckland Art Gallery and Auckland Museum. Gauguin was fascinated by the collections of Māori art, particularly the intricate woodcarving and wooden panels designed for the entries to Wharenui, or meeting houses, which he sketched during his visit or copied from photographs. These encounters helped fuel Gauguin’s enthusiasm for carving.
Gauguin’s uneasy relationship with the French authorities and his criticism of colonial powers was one factor in his decision move to move to the Marquesas Islands. At Atuona, on the Island of Hiva Oa, he began to carve wood panels to decorate a new home, what he called his ‘House of pleasure’. The nearby work Peace and war from 1901 is one of the panels made there. With traces of paint and gilding, it depicts two women on the left, symbolising peace, while on the right two men fight with a skull at their feet, symbolising war. Gauguin drew inspiration from Marquesan tattoo design, sculptures and other carved objects, and continued to work in wood until his death in 1903.
