The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)

1889

Paul Gauguin

(French, 1848–1903)

France, 19th century

oil on fabric

Framed: 123.8 x 106 x 7 cm (48 3/4 x 41 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 92.5 x 72.4 cm (36 7/16 x 28 1/2 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Powell Jones 1978.63

Location: 222 Impressionism & Post-Impressionism

Did You Know?

Gauguin likely painted this work of art during his time in a small coastal village called Pont-Aven where he sought to immerse himself in nature and escape modern civilization.

Description

Painted at Pont-Aven in northwest France, this depiction of a nude figure throwing herself into the sea suggests a metaphor for a modern European woman forsaking civilization and abandoning herself to her natural, primitive instincts. The simplified lines and exaggerated colors, especially the contrasting green and orange, seem invented rather than observed from life. Exhibiting the painting at the Café Volpini in Paris in 1889, Gauguin established himself as a leader of the Symbolist movement in art.

1890
On consignment with Boussod & Valadon, Paris, FR.
1891
(Gauguin sale, Paris, FR, February 23, 1891, lot 14, to M. Jeanson)
1906
(Joseph Hessel, Paris, FR, March 1906, sold to Gustave Fayet)
1906–1907
(Gustave Fayet [1865–1925], Paris, FR, February 1907, sold to Ambroise Vollard)
probably 1923
(Paul Éluard, Paris, FR, who probably bought it at Galerie Dru in 1923)
1927
(Drouot, Paris, FR, December 12, 1927, lot 103, sold to Hessel)
1928
Leicester Galleries, London, UK.
1929
Purchased by Frank H. Ginn, Cleveland, OH
1978
Mr. and Mrs. Powell Jones, Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
1978–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Provenance Footnotes
1 Under the title given by Gauguin, Femme nue dans la vague. (see, John Rewald, 1973, 49).
Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987. Reproduced: P. 48, pl. III; Mentioned and reproduced: P. 108, no. 16
Robinson, William H. "Puvis De Chavannes's "Summer" and the Symbolist Avant-Garde." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 1 (1991): 2-27. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 13-14 www.jstor.org
Robinson, William H. "Vuillard's Under the Trees from the Nabi Cycle The Public Gardens." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 4 (1992): 111-27. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 113 www.jstor.org
Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 274-279, Vol. I, no. 100
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 293
Pinchon, Pierre. "Tahiti Mysterieux Rivage 1890-1895." Dossier de l'art, 252 (September 2017): 28-45. Reproduced: p. 31
Groom, Gloria Lynn, ed. Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2017. Reproduced: p. 56 (detail); pp. 190-191, cat. #118; Mention: p. 188
Fémelat, Armelle. Gauguin, d'art et de liberté. Neuilly-sur-Seine: Michel Lafon: BeauxArts Éditions, 2017. Reproduced: P. 112
Guégan, Stéphane. Gauguin: voyage au bout de la terre. Paris: Chêne Editions, 2017. Reproduced: P. 122
Tate Gallery. "Exhibition Diary: Autumn Highlights." Tate Etc. 41 (Autumn 2017): 14. Reproduced: p. 14
Brettell, Richard R. On Modern Beauty: Three Paintings by Manet, Gauguin, and Cezanne. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2019. Reproduced: P. 45, no. 29
Jamet, Christian. Gauguin: Les Chemins de la Spiritualité. Paris: Cohen&Cohen, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 78-81, ill. 46
Marangoni, Eleonora. Viceversa: Il Mondo Visto di Spalle. [Monza]: Johan & Levi editore, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 73-74, fig. 61
Cariou, A., Dorthe Vangsgaard Nielsen, Timothy Stroud, René Lauritsen, and Paul Gauguin. Gauguin and His Friends. [Copenhagen] : Ordrupgaard,2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 83, fig. 32
Boyle-Turner, Caroline. Paul Gauguin: Une Renaissance à Pont-Aven. Châteaulin: Locus Solus,2023. Reproduced: p. 27
Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (June 25-September 10, 2017); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (October 9, 2017-January 21, 2018).
Art Institute of Chicago IL (6/25/2017 - 9/10/2017) and RMN - Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France (10/9/2017 - 1/12/2018): "Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist"
Friction of Ideas: Gauguin, Van Gogh, Bernard. Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund, Copenhagen, Denmark (organizer) (February 6-June 22, 2014).
Ordrupgaard, Denmark (2/6/2014 - 6/22/2014): "Friction of Ideas: Gauguin, Van Gogh, Bernard"
Gauguin: Maker of Myth. Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (September 30, 2010-January 18, 2011); National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (February 21-May 30, 2011).
Tate Modern, London (9/20/2010 - 1/24/2011) and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (2/21/2011 - 5/30/2011): "Gauguin: Maker of Myth", ex. cat. 92, p. 161.
Paul Gauguin: Paris, 1889. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 18, 2010); Van Gogh Museum, 1070 AJ Amsterdam, Netherlands (February 18-June 6, 2010).
Cleveland Museum of Art (10/4/2009 - 1/18/2010; Van Gogh Museum of Art (2/19/2010 - 6/6/2010): "Paul Gauguin: Paris, 1889", ex. cat. no. 43
Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
CMA (organizer). Beijing World Art Museum, China, May 26 - Aug. 27, 2006; Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan: Sept. 9 - Nov. 26, 2006; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea: Dec. 18, 2006 - March 31, 2007; Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea: Apr. 7 - May 20, 2007; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: June 9 - Sept. 16, 2007; Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2007- January 13, 2008; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, Feb. 21-June 1, 2008; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22 - September 21, 2008; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI, October 12, 2008 - January 18, 2009: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
CMA Highlights. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 21-September 11, 2005).
The Cleveland Museum of Art (06/21/2005 - 09/11/2005); "CMA Highlights"
Gauguin and the Origins of Symbolism. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (September 28, 2004-January 9, 2005).
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (9/28/2004 - 1/9/2004): "Gauguin and the Origins of Symbolism"
Gauguin's 'Nirvana'. Painters at Le Pouldu, 1889-1890. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (organizer) (January 27-April 29, 2001).
Hartford, CT: Wadsworth Atheneum (1/26/01-4/20/01) "Gauguin's Nirvana. Painters at Le Pouldu 1889-90" color repr. p. 132, cat. no. 3, fig. no. 178, p. 149.
Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery. Gauguin and the School of Pont-Aven (1994-95), 43, add. no. 1 (repr.).
The Art of Paul Gauguin. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer) (May 1-July 31, 1988); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (September 17-December 11, 1988); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France, Paris, France (January 9-April 24, 1989).
Washington/Chicago/Paris. The Art of Paul Gauguin (1988-89), 74, 199, no. 80 (repr.) (English ed.); no. 80 (repr.) (French ed.).
Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).
cma. Creativity in Art and Science (1987), no. 16, color pl. III.
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario; Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum. Vincent van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism (1981), 44, 65 (repr.), 204-5.
Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979).
Paris, Café de M. Volpini. Exposition de peintures du Groupe Impressionniste et Synthétiste (1889), no. 44, Dans les vagues.
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Gauguin and the Decorative Style (1966), 46.
London, Tate Gallery. Gauguin and the Pont-Aven Group (1966), 21, no. 17 (Woman in the Waves), 22, pl. 14c.
Art Institute of Chicago; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gauguin (1959), no. 18, 35 (repr.).
New York, Wildenstein. Loan Exhibition: Gauguin (1956), no. 18, 37 (repr.).
Palm Beach, Society of the Four Arts; Coral Gables, Lowe Gallery of the University of Miami. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1956), no. 13 (repr.).
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Paul Gauguin, His Place in the Meeting of East and West (1954), no. 14 (Odine [sic] or Woman in the Waves).
New York, Wildenstein. A Loan Exhibition of Paul Gauguin (1946), no. 6, lent by Mr. and Mrs. W. Powell Jones; 22 (repr.).
Cleveland, Kinney and Levan Building. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition under the Auspices of the Cleveland School of Art (1936), no. 275.
New York, Wildenstein. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1936), no. 11.
Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1936), no. 12.
Toledo Museum of Art. Cézanne-Gauguin (1936), no. 4 (repr.), lent by Mr. and Mrs. Frank H. Ginn.
New York, Museum of Modern Art. Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Van Gogh (1929), no. 42 (repr.).
Basel, Kunsthalle. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1928), no. 59, Die Welle, Leicester Galleries, London.
Berlin, Galerie Thannhauser. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 (1928), no. 42.
Paris, Galerie L. Dru. Exposition rétrospective de P. Gauguin (1923), no. 12, 1889, La femme de la mer.
Paris, Société du Salon d'Automne au Grand Palais. (1906), no. 25, L'Ondine (Bretagne), G. Fayet collection.
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https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1978.63