The Siesta (Paul Gauguin)

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The Siesta
ArtistPaul Gauguin
Year1892 to 1894
TypeOil paint on canvas
Dimensions88.9 by 116.2 centimetres (35.0 in × 45.7 in)
LocationMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

The Siesta is an 1892-1894 oil on canvas painting by Paul Gauguin, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.[1] It was painted during Gauguin's first extended trip to the island of Tahiti.

The picture is an unpretentious representation of a group of Tahitian women in westernised clothes chatting in the cool shade of a verandah during the hot afternoon sun. One of the women is doing her ironing.[2] Although the subject matter was an aspect of everyday life, Gauguin worked on the canvas over a long period, making several changes - the shopping bag in the foreground, for example, was previously a dog.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Catalogue entry".
  2. ^ "Siesta,1893". Gauguin.org. Retrieved 6 January 2020.