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Nature morte … l'estampe japonaise signed and dated 'P Gauguin 88' (lower left) oil on canvas 121/2 x 21 7/8 in. (31.7 x 55.5 cm.) Painted in 1888 PROVENANCE Galerie Druet, Paris. Georg Reinhart, Winterthur (acquired from the above, May 1912). Ursula Dubs-Reinhart, K쳌snacht (by descent from the above). LITERATURE P. Courthion, "La Collection Georges Reinhart", L'Amour de l'Art, February 1926, vol. VII, p. 49. L. van Dovski, Paul Gauguin oder die Flucht vor der Zivilisation, Bern, 1950, p. 344, no. 149. G. Wildenstein, Gauguin, Paris, 1964, p. 106, no. 287 (illustrated). G.M. Sugana, L'Opera completa di Gauguin, Milan, 1972, p. 94, no. 119 (illustrated, p. 93). L. van Dovski, Die Wahrheit 쳌ber Gauguin, Darmstadt, 1973, p. 262, no. 149. D. Wildenstein, Gauguin, Premier itin‚raire d'un sauvage, Catalogue de l'oeuvre peint (1873-1888), Paris, 2001, vol. II, pp. 360-362, no. 260 (illustrated in color, p. 261). EXHIBITION (possibly) London, Grafton Galleries, Manet and the Post-Impressionists, November 1910-January 1911, p. 19, no. 38 (titled Nature Morte ). Basel, Kunsthalle, Paul Gauguin (1948-1903), July-August 1928, no. 30 or 34. Winterthur, Kunstmuseum, Der unbekannte Winterthurer Privatbesitz, 1500-1900, September-October 1942, p. 23, no. 105. Munich, Haus der Kunst, Gauguin, April-May 1960, p. 8, no. 37. Zurich, Kunsthaus, Pont-Aven: Gauguin und sein Kreis in der Bretagne, March-April 1966, no. 13. Winterthur, Kunstmuseum, Die Sammlung Georg Reinhart, May-August 1998, no. 19 (illustrated, p. 7). NOTES Both an overt homage to C‚zanne and an early indication of Gauguin's interest in Japanese prints, the present still-life occupies an important place in the artist's oeuvre . Executed in January of 1888, the painting is one of just three or four that Gauguin made during a ten-week stay in Paris following his return from Martinique. He lodged at this time with his friend Emile Schuffenecker, departing on January 26th for a seven-month sojourn in Pont-Aven. Wildenstein has dated the present picture to this Paris period on the basis of the Japanese print in the background, which also appears in a portrait of Schuffenecker's family that Gauguin made in 1889 in his friend's Paris studio (W. 313; Mus‚e d'Orsay, Paris). Moreover, an 1889 still-life that Gauguin probably painted in Paris depicts the same wall as the present picture, although the Japanese print has been replaced by a different image (W. 405; Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts). The present picture is noteworthy as "one of the very first proofs of Gauguin's direct interest in Japanese prints" (D. Wildenstein, op. cit., 2001, p. 361). Late in 1887, Gauguin met Van Gogh, who was a great admirer of Japanese prints and may well have aroused Gauguin's enthusiasm for the genre. From this time on, Japanese prints proved a sustained and fruitful source of inspiration for Gauguin. He included them in the background of two additional still-lifes from 1889 (W. 375 and 380; Museum of Modern Art, Teheran, and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen), and even brought examples with him to the Marquesas. The print depicted in the present painting is probably a diptych, and has been identified on the basis of its red background as a work by Kunichika or a member of his circle (e.g. fig. 1). There is no evidence that Schuffenecker owned any Japanese prints, and it is likely that the print belonged to Gauguin himself. Gauguin is known to have carried with him reproductions of works that he admired, and in 1890 pinned up in Schuffenecker's studio a "frieze made of juxtaposed Hokusai and Utamaro prints" along with "curious original Japanese drawings" (J. de Rotonchamp, Paul Gauguin, Paris, 1906, p. 77). The present picture is also significant as a testament to Gauguin's admiration for C‚zanne. With its distinct contours, intense palette, and shallow, frieze-like space, the painting is clearly indebted to C‚zanne's still-life compositions from the later 1870s. Indeed, Gauguin reportedly told Paul S‚rusier when in the mood to paint still-life, "Let's do a C‚zanne!" (quoted in C. Chass‚, Gauguin et son temps, Paris, 1955, p. 50). Gauguin owned at least five paintings by C‚zanne, including the masterful still-life Nature morte au compotier (R. 418; Museum of Modern Art, New York). In June of 1888, despite considerable financial hardship, the artist refused an offer of three hundred francs for this picture, writing to Schuffenecker, "It's the apple of my eye, and except in case of dire necessity, I'll keep it until my last shirt's gone" (quoted in F. Cachin and J.J. Rishel, eds., C‚zanne, exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1996, p. 28). (fig. 1)Kunichika, Kabuki Actors, circa 1870. Galerie Jan and H‚lŠne L쳌hl, Paris.