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The image shows an abstract arrangement of shapes and lines. There are angular forms, freehand sketches, jagged lines resembling a human profile, triangles resembling folded paper or a mountain range, parallel lines with scattered numbers resembling a list or data chart, and vertical lines resembling a stylized human figure or furniture. The composition invites connections to everyday objects like faces, hills, or lists.
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The image shows an abstract arrangement of shapes and lines. There are angular forms, freehand sketches, jagged lines resembling a human profile, triangles resembling folded paper or a mountain range, parallel lines with scattered numbers resembling a list or data chart, and vertical lines resembling a stylized human figure or furniture. The composition invites connections to everyday objects like faces, hills, or lists.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

A Profile and Four Shapes; Sketch of a Man's Head [recto]

Paul Gauguin

Date
1884-1888
Medium
crayon, graphite, and pen and brown ink on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 16.9 x 22.1 cm (6 5/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
1991.217.64.a
Credit line
The Armand Hammer Collection
Time span
1876 to 1900
Department
CG-E
Original NGA record Wikidata

Portfolio and series

Series
Breton Sketchbook, No. 16

Subjects and terms

  • French
  • Post-Impressionist
  • Face
  • Geometric
  • Writing
  • alphabet
  • calligraphic
Provenance

Henri Mahaut, Cherbourg, purchased before World War I; Private Collection, USA; Armand Hammer Collection, Los Angeles, 1967; gift to NGA 1991

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notations overall

NGA object ID 74263. 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.