The Works of Gauguin Russian Art Matryoshka

Product Description

The Paintings of Paul Gauguin (Картины Гогена). A one-of-a-kind jewel masterpiece art doll that was painted and signed by the artist (I. Shepel) of Rostov on the Don. Each piece has a copy of a painting by Gauguin and a black border running vertically on which a letter was painted spelling out the name "Paul Gauguin". Atop each doll is a circle split in half and painted in two different colors. On each half is written "Paul" and "Gauguin". The bottoms of each doll mirror the top with the same half circle in the same two colors. All the work, including the titles, was done by hand. Of special note is the application of raised, textured surfaces to emulate actual painting on canvas. Done on several pieces, especially on the 6th and 8th through 10th, it adds an extraordinary dimension to the finished product. 14 nest, signed by the painter. Each piece has a polished clear coat of lacquer. 10¼" down to tiny. 1 only.

Note: this matryoshka was purchased and then went on a journey to Saudi Arabia and back. It was packaged up and shipped by us, only to be detained in Saudi customs for over aa month, and then finally refused delivery to the customer. Something about repression of fine art, we can only surmise. The last three photos show evidence of the trip.

Condition note: All pieces are on fine condition with the exception of  a couple of the textured ones (as noted above) which exhibit paint loss due to the applique process, 

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was born in 1848 and died at the age of 54 in 1903. He began his chosen field of work as an artist in earnest in 1882 after his first career as a stockbroker fizzled out due to the Paris stock exchange collapse. He was a French post-Impressionist and an important figure in the Symbolist art movement of the early 1900's. His eye-catching colors and distorted, abstract body proportions paved the way for the Primitivist art movement. A lackluster appreciation during his lifetime transformed into recognition of one the finest, and one of the most controversial, artists of the 19th century.

The sequence of paintings on the dolls (each followed by the date of the original painting) is as follows: 1)Two Tahitian Women (1899) & Where Are You Going? (1893), 2) The Spirit of the Dead Watching (1892), 3) The Moon and the Earth (1893) & Barbarous Tales (1902), 4) Tahitian Pastoral (1892), 5) The White Horse (1898) & Maternité II (1899), 6) Conversation (1894), 7) Self Portrait with a Palette (1891 or 1893) & Tahitian Man With His Arms Raised (1897), 8) Nativity (1896), 9) We Shall Not Go to the Market Today (1892), 10) Tahitian Women on the Beach (1891), 11) Tahitian Mountains (1893), 12) Le Rêve (1897), 13) Nevermore (1897), and finally, 14) The Idol (1898).