Artwork
The Entrance to the Tautira River, Tahiti. Fisherman Spearing a Fish
The Entrance to the Tautira River, Tahiti. Fisherman Spearing a Fish is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist John La Farge. It dates from 1895 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
A man in a canoe spears a fish near a lush Tahitian shore. The water glows green-blue under bright sunlight, and trees frame the scene, their leaves sharp against the sky. La Farge visited Tahiti in 1890 and painted this afterward, keeping his colors bright but his shapes clear and simple.
Technique & Style
The physical dimensions indicate a substantial horizontal format, allowing for a broad view of the river entrance and the figure of the fisherman.
Executed in 1895, this work is an oil painting on canvas measuring 136 by 152.4 centimeters. The composition features a landscape setting that includes depictions of mountains and trees, consistent with the Tahitian subject matter. As a classified painting, the piece utilizes traditional oil paints applied to a woven fabric support.
The physical dimensions indicate a substantial horizontal format, allowing for a broad view of the river entrance and the figure of the fisherman. The materials and medium align with standard late nineteenth-century artistic practices for large-scale landscape works.
History & Provenance
John La Farge painted The Entrance to the Tautira River, Tahiti. Fisherman Spearing a Fish in 1895. The work remained with the artist until his death and then passed to his estate.
It was sold at the American Art Galleries in New York on 30 March 1911 (lot no. 599) to Hamilton Easter Field of Brooklyn and Ogunquit, Maine, who bequeathed it to Robert Laurent. Laurent sold it to the Graham Gallery, New York, in March 1966, and the National Gallery of Art purchased it on 15 August 1966, where it remains. Specific inventory or accession numbers are not provided in the available records, nor is an exhibition history documented in the supplied sources.
Overview
John La Farge's oil painting, The Entrance to the Tautira River, Tahiti. Fisherman Spearing a Fish, created around 1895, captures a vibrant Tahitian landscape. The work portrays a lone figure in a canoe engaged in spearfishing, set against a backdrop of lush vegetation and a distant mountain.
Bright sunlight illuminates the scene, reflecting off the water and highlighting the natural beauty of the island environment.
Subject & Meaning
The painting centers on a fisherman poised in a canoe, actively spearing a fish within the clear, luminous green-blue waters of the Tautira River entrance. The composition frames this human activity with dense, verdant trees along the shore, their foliage sharply defined against the sky. A prominent mountain rises in the background, grounding the scene in the specific geography of Tahiti and emphasizing the harmony between human life and the natural world.
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Artist & collection
Artist
John La Farge (March 31, 1835 – November 14, 1910) was an American artist whose career spanned illustration, murals, interior design, painting, and popular books on his Asian travels and other art-related topics.
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