Zincograph on imitation Japan paper, 1889. 185x277 mm; 7 1/4x11 inches, full margins. Second edition. Published by Vollard, Paris. From Dix Zincographies. A very good impression.
According to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where there is another impression of this lithograph, "Gauguin [1848-1903] collected Japanese prints and took an assortment with him when he traveled. The qualities Gauguin admired in Japanese prints--flat, decorative shapes; bright colors; and dark outlines--were hallmarks of his art from the period when he worked in Pont-Aven, Arles, and the Caribbean island of Martinique. In 1889, he finished a series of zincographs based on his experiences there that were distinctly Japanese in their compositional structure and motifs. Two of the prints in the series have fan or quasi-fan shapes [like the current work]."
According to Johnson, in her survey of the publications of Ambroise Vollard, "The first edition of the 10 lithographs (on zinc plates) with an illustrated title page was printed by Ancourt on hand-colored yellow papers in 1889 and was the only edition known to Guérin. Sometime between his trips to Tahiti, Gauguin gave the plates to Amédée Schuffenecker, who then sold them to Vollard. Vollard's unnumbered second edition was issued as a series of 10 zincographies without the earlier title page." Kornfeld 3.
