Maruru (Offerings of Gratitude) (1893–94): Art, History and Details

Maruru (Offerings of Gratitude) (1893–94) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In 1891 Paul Gauguin traveled to Tahiti, seeking a more authentic style of art making than the conservatism he rejected in Western culture. After returning to Paris in 1893, he began working on Noa Noa, an illustrated book that explained and illustrated his experiences abroad. Although the project was never completed, this print is one of its illustrations. Gauguin depicted a lush landscape by chiseling roughly into a woodblock, a technique meant to suggest relief sculpture he viewed in Tahiti. This style is emphasized by the irregularly applied ink of Maruru—one of only a few impressions Gauguin printed himself.

Object facts

• Title: Maruru (Offerings of Gratitude)
• Date: 1893–94
• Creator attribution: Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: woodcut on pink paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 20.6 x 36 cm (8 1/8 x 14 3/16 in.); Image: 20.3 x 35.5 cm (8 x 14 in.)
• Collection: PR - Woodcut
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1925.987

A detail from the museum

The majority of prints from Noa Noa were printed by the master printer Louis Roy or, later, by Paul Gauguin's son Pola, making this impression particularly rare.

Collection credit

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.