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Lot Essay
There is an ink annotation in the image at upper left and appears to be a transposed '15'. This may be a collector's stamp added after the piece was photographed for Mongan, Klipstein, and Joachim's catalogue raisonné.
This and the following lot show Gauguin’s sophisticated approach to woodblock printing. Exploiting the characteristics of fine oriental paper Gauguin was able to achieve a chiaroscuro effect by printing the block in one color, then re-cutting it and printing a second impression in a different, complimentary color. By pasting one sheet over the other, the semi-transparency of the paper meant that both impressions would be visible at the same time, in combination. In the case of Changement de résidence he printed thirty impressions in dark grey or ochre (as here), then re-cut the block, lightening the foreground, and printed a second edition of thirty in black. It was issued with the second state pasted over the first.
This and the following lot show Gauguin’s sophisticated approach to woodblock printing. Exploiting the characteristics of fine oriental paper Gauguin was able to achieve a chiaroscuro effect by printing the block in one color, then re-cutting it and printing a second impression in a different, complimentary color. By pasting one sheet over the other, the semi-transparency of the paper meant that both impressions would be visible at the same time, in combination. In the case of Changement de résidence he printed thirty impressions in dark grey or ochre (as here), then re-cut the block, lightening the foreground, and printed a second edition of thirty in black. It was issued with the second state pasted over the first.