GAUGUIN, Paul
(b. 1848, Paris, d. 1903, Atuona, Hiva Oa, French Polynesia)

The Queen of Beauty (Te Arii Vahine)

1896
Watercolour, 172 x 229 mm
Private collection

The position of the nude clearly quotes Manet's Olympia. The composition is defined by the horizontal sky-line and the vertical tree-trunks traversed by the oblique line of the sea-shore.

This watercolour is a study for an oil painting now in The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.