Tahitian Women on the Beach

Paul Gauguin 1848–1903

Tahitian Women on the Beach (1890) by Paul Gauguin. Its palette is led by muted crimson red (#b28797, 17%) and blue black (#1e1b26, 16%), with accents of rich orange brown, dark sienna, muted green and bone. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, vivid and warm.

Color note

Gauguin painted in flat areas of bold, unnatural color, often ringed with dark outlines, choosing color for feeling and symbol rather than description.

Palette

#b28797 MG 011 muted crimson red 16.6% of canvas
#9f6138 MG 158 rich orange brown 15.6% of canvas
#1e1b26 MG 221 blue black 15.5% of canvas
#c9a96d MG 032 light orange amber 15.5% of canvas
#93272e MG 020 dark red 10.7% of canvas
#552427 MG 145 dark sienna 10.6% of canvas
#44674d MG 058 muted green 8.2% of canvas
#cebbb9 MG 171 bone 7.4% of canvas

Color families

Red 25%, Brown 24%, Yellow 12%, Black 11%, Gray 10%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.53
Contrast: 0.56
Vividness: 0.061
Warmth: +0.90
Complexity: 247 cells
Hue range: 0.67
Focus: 0.12

Composition

57% of the visual weight is in the left half, 51% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.46 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 2% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 37% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1890
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 69.0 × 91.5 cm
Genre: portrait
Collection: Musée d'Orsay, Paris

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More by Paul Gauguin

Vision After the Sermon, 1888
The Yellow Christ, 1889
Manaò tupapaú, 1892
When Will You Marry?, 1892
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, c. 1897