Paul Gauguin
French, 1848–1903
Young Christian Girl
1894
Gauguin painted this work in Northern France after an extended stay in Tahiti, fusing imagery from his recent experiences. The young girl bows her head and joins her hands in prayer. Behind her, lilac shapes fan around her shoulders like wings, and the russet-colored cypresses and rolling green hills suggest the landscape of Brittany. Yet instead of the white cap and dark clothing traditionally worn by Breton women, she is shown in a dress similar to those brought by Christian missionaries to the South Sea Islands.
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 25 11/16 x 18 3/8 in. (65.3 x 46.7 cm) Frame: 35 3/8 x 28 1/16 in. (89.9 x 71.3 cm) |
| Object Number | 1986.22 |
| Acquisition | Acquired in honor of Harding F. Bancroft, Institute Trustee 1970–1987; President 1977–1987, 1986 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Paul Gauguin, Young Christian Girl, 1894, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, Acquired in honor of Harding F Bancroft, Institute Trustee President , 1986.22
Select Bibliography
Musée de la Ville. Exhibition Catalogue. Winterthur, Switzerland: Musée de la Ville, 1922.
New York: Museum of Modern Art.. First Loan Exhibition: Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Van Gogh.. Nov. 1929.. New York: Durand-Ruel.. Cézanne, Gauguin and Redon.. 1932.. London: Wildenstein.. Kessler Collection.. 1948.. Edinburgh: Royal Scottish Academy.. Gauguin: An Exhibition of Paintings, Engravings, and Sculpture.. Org. w. the Edinburgh Festival Society by the Arts Council of Great Britain.. 1955.. London: Tate Gallery.. Gauguin: An Exhibition of Paintings, Engravings, and Sculpture.. Sept. 30-Oct. 26, 1955.. Oslo: Kunstnerforbundet.. Gauguin.. 1955.. Paris: Galerie Charpentier.. Cent oeuvres de Gauguin.. Jan.-March. 1960.. Munich: Haus der Kunst. Paul Gauguin.. March 1-April 29, 1960.. Vienna: Osterreichische Galerie im Oberen Belvedere. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903.. June 7-July 31, 1960.. Brettell, Richard R., et al. The Art of Paul Gauguin. Exhibition catalogue. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1988. Musée de Pont-Aven, France.. Le cercle de Gauguin en Bratagne. June 25-Sept. 26, 1994. Musée d'Art Moderne, Liège, Belgium.. Gauguin, les XX, et la Libre Esthétique. Oct. 21, 1994-Jan. 15, 1995. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.. Lost Paradise: Symbolist Europe. June 8-Oct. 15, 1995. Cat. by Pierre Théeberg et al.. 1995.. Shallcross, Gilian. Gauguin and the School of Pont-Aven. Exhibition catalogue. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1996. Landesmuseum Joanneum Graz. Paul Gauguin. June 9-Oct. 1, 2000. Cat. by Brigitte Béranger. Saint Louis Art Museum. Vincent van Gogh and the Painters of the Petit Boulevard. Feb. 17-May 13, 2001.. Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt, June 8-Sept. 2, 2001. exh. cat.. Jean de Rotonchamp.. Paul Gauguin.. Paris:Ed. G. Crès.. 1925.. John Rewald.. Gauguin.. New York: French and European Publications.. 1938.. Nicolson, Benedict. "The Kessler Collection." The Burlington Magazine 90, no. 548 (November 1948): 3245. Jean Leymarie.. Catalogue de l'Exposition du Centenaire, Musée de l'Orangerie. "Lettres et documents inédits.". Paris: Editions des Musées Nationaux.. 1949.. Lee Van Dovski.. Gauguin.. 1950.. Ziva Amishai-Maisels.. Gauguin's Religious Themes.. New York: Garland Publishing.. 1985.. Françoise Cachin.. Gauguin.. Paris: Flammarion.. 1988.. Isabell Cahn, Irène Elbaz, Claire Frèches.. Gauguin.. Paris: Ed. Adam Biro.. 1988.. Charles F. Stuckey and Marla Prather, ed.. Gauguin: A Retrospective.. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin.. 1987.. Claire Frèches-Thory et al.. Gauguin.. Paris: La Bibliothèque des Expositions/Ed. Adam Biro.. 1988.. Pierre d'Halluin.. "Gauguin en de Parijse Avant-Garde te Brugge.". vol. 8.. Maandblad van de Gidsenbond van Brugge.. Oct. 1989.:pp. 127-32.. Michael Gibson.. Paul Gauguin.. Barcelona: Ediciones Poligrafa.. 1990.. Howard Greenfeld.. First Impresssions: Paul Gauguin.. New York: Abrams.. 1992.. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Marla Prather and Charles F. Stuckey.. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903. (German ed.). Cologne: Könemann.. 1994. Marla Prather and Charles F. Stuckey.. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903. (French ed.). Cologne: Könemann.. 1994. Marla Prather and Charles F. Stuckey.. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903. (Spanish ed.). Cologne: Könemann.. 1994. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Denise Delouche.. Gauguin et la Bretagne.. Rennes (France): Editions Apogee.. 1996.. Anonymous. "Nineteenth-Century Painting and Sculpture." The Magazine Antiques 152 (October 1997): 522–31. Thomas Millroth.. Molards Salong: Den Svenska Skulptören Ida Ericson-Molard och det Sjudande Konstnärslivet I 1890-Talets Paris.. Stockholm: Forum.. 1993.. Cornelia Homburg (editor). Vincent van Gogh and the Painters of the Petit Boulevard. St. Louis: Saint Louis Art Museum. 2001. Georges Wildenstein.. Gauguin I, catalogue.. Paris: Editions Les Beaux-Arts.. 1964.. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011.EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY
Provenance
The artist (his sale, Paris, Hôtel des Ventes, 18 Feb. 1895, no. 46, as Jeune chrétienne);¹ Amédée Schuffenecker or Claude-Émile Schuffenecker, Paris; Julius Meier-Graefe, Paris and Berlin (sold to Bernheim Jeune, 12 Oct. 1907); [Bernheim Jeune, Paris, 1907–9, sold to Kann, 26 Jan. 1909]; Alphonse Kann, Saint-Germain-en-Laye (from 1909); [Ambroise Vollard, Paris, sold to Reber, Oct. 1912]; Dr. Gottlieb Friedrich Reber, Barmen, Germany (1912–until at least 1913); Thea Sternheim, La Hulpe, Belgium (1915–19, her sale, Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, 11 Feb. 1919, no. 1, as Jeune fille bretonne);² [Galerie Alfred Flechtheim, Berlin, by 1929]; [Paul Rosenberg, Paris, 1930–until at least 1935];³ [possibly Rosenberg and Helft, London, in 1937]; Mrs. J. B. August Kessler, London (by 1948–until at least 1955); Mrs. (N. L.) Augusta McRoberts, Shipbourne, Kent, England (by 1960–until at least 1963); [Alex Reid & Lefevre, London, until 1986, sold to the Clark, 9 July 1986]; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1986. 1. An unpublished report (procès-verbal) of this sale lists the Clark painting as no. 45 and notes that Gauguin bought it back, as he did many of the works in this largely unsuccessful sale. The report was reproduced in Paris 1949, p. 98. 2. Information on the sale from Vollard to Reber and on Sternheim’s purchase of this painting in 1915 is given in Andrea Pophanken and Felix Billeter, Die Moderne und ihre Sammler: Französische Kunst in deutschem Privatbesitz vom Kaiserreich zur Weimarer Republik, 2001, pp. 261, 355, 357. 3. In the Paul Rosenberg Archives, this painting, inventory no. 2837, appears in a list of works photographed, listed after an entry dated 30 June 1930, and before an entry of Nov. 1930, thus giving an approximate date of acquisition by the gallery. See The Paul Rosenberg Archives, a gift of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.
