Double Study of Dawn, Moorea Seen across the Water, Tahiti

Double Study of Dawn, Moorea Seen across the Water, Tahiti was painted by John La Farge in 1891, as indicated by the work’s internal documentation and confirmed by its Wikidata entry.

The work entered the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains held today. Its dimensions are recorded as 26.7 cm in height and 19.8 cm in width.

John La Farge's 1891 watercolor, Double Study of Dawn, Moorea Seen across the Water, Tahiti, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work is classified within The American Wing of the museum. While the specific inventory or accession number is not provided in the available records, the piece is documented as part of the museum's holdings since its creation.

The artwork depicts the island of Moorea and the Pacific Ocean at twilight. It has been associated with the museum's collection, reflecting its status as a significant example of American landscape art from the late nineteenth century.

John La Farge painted Double Study of Dawn, Moorea Seen across the Water, Tahiti in 1891 using watercolor, gouache and graphite on laid paper. The work, measuring 26.7 × 19.8 cm, is housed in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and depicts the island of Moorea at twilight over the Pacific Ocean.

Scholars have linked the painting to La Farge’s broader fascination with Pacific light and his role in introducing Japanese aesthetic principles to American art, positioning the piece within the late‑19th‑century trans‑Pacific dialogue.

Although contemporary critical attention was modest, later scholarship cites the watercolor as an example of the artist’s synthesis of impressionistic color with ethnographic observation, underscoring its significance in the development of American landscape painting.

John La Farge created Double Study of Dawn, Moorea Seen across the Water, Tahiti in 1891. This landscape, rendered with watercolor, gouache, and graphite on laid paper, captures the Pacific island of Moorea at a transitional moment of day. The work reflects La Farge's sustained engagement with the subtle effects of light and color, a hallmark of his diverse contributions to American art.