Gauguin, Paul (1848-1903)
Nature morte avec des pivoines (Still Life with Peonies)
1884
Oil on canvas, 59.7 x 73 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
About a dozen ruby-red and bright pink peonies in a gold and green vase sit on a rumpled cloth in this loosely painted, horizontal still life. The flowers, cloth, and background are painted with visible brushstrokes, making many of the details indistinct. Nestled among moss-green leaves, most of the flowers are red but three pink peonies are interspersed in the bouquet, to our right. One additional red peony lies on the table, near the lower left corner of the painting. The narrow vase holding the flowers has emerald-green ovals against a celery-green background. The fabric bunched on the table is loosely painted in strokes of pumpkin orange, indigo blue, and asparagus green, that together suggest a geometric pattern. The wall behind the bouquet is streaked with sky blue and parchment white, and two pictures hanging one over the other, to our right, are cut off by the top and right edges of the composition. The top picture has a wide, cream-white mat and shows a tan house with a charcoal-gray roof against a blue sky. The bottom picture shows a ballerina wearing a knee-length tutu bent forward over her knees, presumably tying a slipper. The artist inscribed, dated, and signed the work in pine-green paint in the upper left corner, “à M. Théodore Gad son ami” and, underneath, “P Gauguin 84.” (NGA)