
Read the visual description
This print shows an array of abstract shapes and lines on a textured background. Many forms resemble human figures, although many of their features are abstracted or exaggerated. One figure near the center has a skull-like face and is seated and with their head in their hands, looking out at us. Other shapes include a child seated on the ground on the left and a figure with long hair and wide eyes on the right, their hands clasped in prayer. In the upper half of the print, there is text in a swirling ribbon, as well as more stylized human faces, most depicted from the shoulders up. The background is filled with solid and patterned sections in shades of black, reddish-brown, and beige.
National Gallery of Art · Print
Be in Love and You will be Happy (Soyez amoureuses, vous serez heureuses)
Paul Gauguin
- Date
- 1898-1899
- Medium
- woodcut in light brown and black on chine collé
- Dimensions
- image: 16 × 27.3 cm (6 5/16 × 10 3/4 in.)
- Classification
- Accession number
- 1950.16.71
- Credit line
- Rosenwald Collection
- Time span
- 1876 to 1900
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- French
- Seated figure
- Woman
- Baby
- Post-Impressionist
- Writing
Provenance
(Henri M. Petiet, Paris); sold May 15, 1950 to Lessing Julius Rosenwald, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania; gift to NGA 1950.
Marks
none
NGA object ID 39006. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.