{"id":82422,"date":"2021-09-02T17:51:05","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T15:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svetslik.si\/uncategorized\/nevermore-o-taiti\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T19:45:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T18:45:36","slug":"nevermore-o-taiti","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/svetslik.si\/en\/paul-gauguin\/nevermore-o-taiti\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Gauguin \u2013 Nevermore (O Tahiti)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Paul Gauguin \u2013 Nevermore (O Tahiti) \u2013 hand-painted oil painting reproduction<\/h2>\n

A woman lies on the bed and looks straight out at us; behind her a dark bird perches, and beside it two figures are talking. In the upper left corner, in capitals, stands the word NEVERMORE<\/em>. The work was painted in February 1897<\/strong> during the second Tahitian stay, oil on canvas, 116 \u00d7 60.5 cm<\/strong>, and is held by the Courtauld Gallery<\/strong> (Courtauld Institute of Art) in London under accession number P.1932.SC.163<\/strong>. The word from that corner is painted here by hand: a hand-painted oil painting reproduction<\/strong>, oil on canvas, with no printing.<\/p>\n

The word is Poe\u2019s; the bird, by the painter\u2019s account, is not<\/h3>\n

The title is unmistakably Poe\u2019s: Nevermore<\/em> is the refrain of The Raven<\/em> of 1845, a poem read aloud at Gauguin\u2019s farewell dinner in 1891. The bird in the picture, however, was denied by the painter himself as Poe\u2019s raven<\/strong> \u2013 he described it as \u201cthe bird of the devil who watches\u201d<\/strong>. Poe\u2019s word therefore stands on the canvas while the bird, according to its author, is not his. We do not resolve the contradiction<\/strong>: the title points one way, the painter\u2019s statement the other, and both belong to what is known about the painting.<\/p>\n

Colour instead of narrative<\/h3>\n

Gauguin built the mood from colour rather than from an event: a bright yellow pillow<\/strong>, blue and green bands in the bedding, vertical pinks and violets in the background. The scene does not develop \u2013 the woman does nothing, she only looks \u2013 so the range of colour carries the whole meaning. The erotic undertone is hard to miss, yet the painting states nothing outright; the tension comes from what is painted beside the figure, not from the figure itself.<\/p>\n

The composer who bought it<\/h3>\n

Gauguin sent the canvas from Tahiti to his friend Daniel de Monfreid<\/strong>, who in 1898 sold it to the British composer Frederick Delius for 500 francs<\/strong>. Gauguin wrote to Monfreid that he had done well to let Delius have Nevermore. Later the work reached the collector Samuel Courtauld<\/strong>, and since 1932<\/strong> it has been in the Courtauld Gallery in London. That one of the best-known Gauguins hung for decades in a composer\u2019s house is worth knowing.<\/p>\n

A hand-painted reproduction for your home<\/h3>\n

The format is markedly long and low \u2013 close to two to one \u2013 and that is what decides where it belongs: above a bed, above a low chest, or along a corridor, not on a narrow wall. We paint the motif in eight sizes, from 80 \u00d7 50 cm<\/strong> to 200 \u00d7 120 cm<\/strong>. Another reclining figure with a watcher behind her is in Spirit of the Dead Watching<\/a>; from the same year 1897 comes Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?<\/a>, and the Tahitian day out of doors is in Fatata te Miti (By the Sea)<\/a>.<\/p>\n