Paul Gauguin
Tahitian Women on the Beach
From $80
This is a painting of greens and blues with hot pinks and oranges between them, and a weak copy turns it to khaki. Our Paul Gauguin The White Horse was graded beside the original so the green on the horse stays green, the stream stays dark and the flowers keep their heat. Gauguin White Horse prints rarely get that balance right.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
12x18 inch, 16x24 inch, 20x30 inch, 24x36 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its tall shape suits a narrow wall, a hallway or the space beside a bookcase. The greens, blues and pinks look lovely with sage, terracotta and natural linen, and a natural wood frame keeps it warm.
About the painting
The White Horse by Paul Gauguin
Tahiti, 1898
Gauguin had been back in Tahiti for three years. He was ill and in debt, and that spring he took a job drawing plans for the government, at six francs a day. He painted very little that year. A pharmacist in Tahiti asked him for a picture, and he painted this one.
Not white enough
Look at the horse. It is white, but under the trees it has turned green, the way white things do in deep shade. The pharmacist did not want it. He had asked for a white horse. Behind it, two riders sit on bare horseback among twisted branches and flowers Gauguin invented.
Post-Impressionism
There is no sky in it and no horizon, only a stream running up the picture and flat areas of colour. In Polynesia white was linked with death and the sacred, so the horse drinking at the stream may be more than a horse. The pharmacist’s loss is the Musée d’Orsay’s gain: it has hung in Paris since 1927.
Read the story
Paul Gauguin was asked to paint a white horse, and he painted it green.
It's Tahiti, in 1898. Gauguin is nearly fifty, far from Paris, and almost out of money.
Every month he writes to a friend back home, and every month he waits for the mail boat. So often, there's nothing on it for him.
He lives on water and mangoes and guavas, and on the river shrimp his companion catches.
That spring he takes a government job drawing plans, for six francs a day, and tells his friend he has stopped painting.
But a pharmacist in town asks him for a picture, and Gauguin paints one more.
A horse stands in a forest stream, with its head down, drinking. Behind it, two riders sit on bare horseback among the trees.
There's no sky and no horizon, only branches twisting over the water, and flowers he made up.
The horse is white. But under those trees white turns green, the way it does in deep shade, and that's how Gauguin paints it.
The pharmacist looks at it and says no. He wanted a white horse.
In Polynesia, white is the colour of the sacred, and of death. So perhaps this horse at the stream is crossing over to somewhere else.
Today it hangs in Paris, in the Musée d'Orsay, where people stand in front of it and see a green horse.
Step into the shade with it, and listen to the water.
The White Horse. Paul Gauguin, 1898.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
