The Large Tree (1891): Art, History and Details

The Large Tree (1891) 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:

Disgusted with the materialism of European society, Gauguin abandoned his family and career as a stockbroker and departed for Tahiti in 1891. This canvas is among the first paintings he completed on the island. Its rich colors and stylized figures were intended to be both symbolic and mysterious, evoking private thoughts and emotions. “I obtain symphonies,” he wrote, “harmonies that represent nothing real in the absolute sense of the word.”

Object facts

• Title: The Large Tree
• Date: 1891
• Creator attribution: Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 92.4 x 112.7 x 6.4 cm (36 3/8 x 44 3/8 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 74 x 92.8 cm (29 1/8 x 36 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1975.263

A detail from the museum

Gauguin positions four women in a friezelike sequence seeking shelter under the dark green leaves of a large tree while the leaves of the second tree add a decorative pattern to the pink thatched roof. With his brush, he captures contrasting elements of the tropical climate, sending the viewer into the cool shade to escape the hot sun.

Collection credit

Gift of Barbara Ginn Griesinger

Further reading listed by the museum

• Bulliet, C. J. Apples & Madonnas; Emotional Expression in Modern Art. Chicago, IL: P. Covici, Inc, 1927.
• "Notes on the Color Plates." ARTnews 25 (May 14, 1927): 50-64.
• Pemberton, Murdock. Picture Book. New York, NY: A.A. Knopf, 1930.

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.