Spirit of the Dead Watching

E71353

Spirit of the Dead Watching is a 1892 Symbolist painting by Paul Gauguin depicting a young Tahitian girl lying fearfully on her bed while a mysterious, ghostly figure looms in the background.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Symbolist painting
oil painting
painting
artHistoricalContext Post-Impressionism
artist Paul Gauguin
cataloguedIn Gauguin catalogue raisonné
collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery
colorPalette deep blues
violet tones
yellow tones
completionDate 1892
countryOfOrigin French Polynesia
creator Paul Gauguin
creatorNationality French
depicts Tahitian girl
bedroom interior
fear
ghostly figure
spirit of the dead
genre genre painting
nude painting
hasReference tupapau (spirit of the dead in Tahitian belief)
hasTheme Polynesian spirituality
colonial gaze
death
eroticism
fear and anxiety
imageSubjectAge adolescent girl
inception 1892
influencedBy Polynesian beliefs about spirits
Tahitian mythology
languageOfTitle Tahitian
location Buffalo, New York
materialUsed oil paint
movement Symbolism
notableFor combination of Western and Polynesian motifs
depiction of a frightened nude adolescent
symbolic use of color
originalTitle Manao tupapau
owner Buffalo AKG Art Museum
partOf Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian period
period Gauguin’s first Tahitian stay
placeOfCreation Tahiti
support burlap
canvas
title Spirit of the Dead Watching
year 1892

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Paul Gauguin
notableWork
Spirit of the Dead Watching
title

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