This portrait depicts one of Gauguin’s closest friends, the Dutch painter Meijer de Haan, in the pose of a thinker. It includes two books that reflect Meyer de Haan’s preoccupations with religion and philosophy: John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus. Carlyle’s central character is called Diogenes, after the Greek philosopher who searched by lamplight for an honest man, and the prominent lamp here may extend this reference. This work was originally intended as part of a decorative panel for the door of an inn at Le Pouldu—a small coastal village in France where both artists stayed—to be hung next to a companion self-portrait by Gauguin that is now in the collection of the National Gallery, in Washington, D.C.
Cezanne to Picasso: Paintings from the David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection, July 17–August 31, 2009.
Gallery label from 2019
The Dutch painter Meijer de Haan, a friend of Gauguin’s, broods chin on hand and contemplates religion and philosophy—subjects suggested by his books, John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost (1674) and Thomas Carlyle’s novel Sartor Resartus (1833–34). The bowl of apples meanwhile suggests both the fruit that tempted Eve in Eden and still lifes by Paul Cézanne, a contemporary whom Gauguin admired. The table is rendered as a powerful diagonal dividing the canvas, and this dynamic composition, the large swaths of bold color, and De Haan’s masklike face typify Gauguin’s language of modern painting.
Provenance Research Project
This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.
Marie Henry (later Mothéré), Le Pouldu
1919 Galerie Barbazanges, Paris
1923 Alex Reid and Lefevre, London
1928 Kraushaar Galleries, New York
1928 Margarett and Quincy Adams Shaw McKean, Boston, Mass.
Margarett Sargent McKean, Beverly, Mass.
M. Knoedler and Co., New York
1958 David and Peggy Rockefeller, New York
1958 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Per Masterpieces from the David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Manet to Picasso (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994)
Provenance research is a work in progress, and is frequently updated with new information. If you have any questions or information to provide about the listed works, please email [email protected] or write to:
Provenance Research Project
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019
Explore more
Paul Gauguin
French, 1848–1903 35 works onlineAlong with his contemporaries Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne , Paul Gauguin was a pioneer of modernist art. His use of expressive colors, flat planes, and simplified, distorted forms in paintings, as well as a rough, semi-abstract aesthetic in sculptures and woodcuts , exerted a profound influence on avant-garde artists in the early 20th century, from Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso to the German Expressionists .
Learn more →
Symbolism
An international avant-garde artistic movement that began in France and spread across Europe and North America during the last two decades of the 19th century.
Learn more →
From MoMA Design Store
Installation views
We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.
Licensing
Artwork or archival images
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
Audio and film clips
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.
Text from a publication or the archives
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.