1896
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
No te aha oe riri (Why Are You Angry?) is a 1896 oil by Paul Gauguin, a Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see women of different ages in a colorful outdoor scene. They're going about their daily lives in a stylized environment. The painting has a dreamlike quality to it, making it hard to understand what's happening. The title "No te aha oe riri" or "Why Are You Angry?" adds to the mystery. It's not clear who the question is being asked to. This uncertainty is typical of Gauguin's work, which often blends reality and fantasy. The artist's use of bold colors and simple shapes creates a unique atmosphere. To learn more about similar styles, look into the technique of impasto.
In this large-scale canvas, one of several Paul Gauguin sent back to France in 1897, women of varying ages appear to go about daily life within a colorful, stylized outdoor environment. Like much of the artist’s work, this painting combines observed detail with artistic fantasy to create a dreamlike scene whose narrative resists simple interpretation. The work’s deliberately provocative title enhances this effect, leaving us to wonder if the “you” refers to someone in the painting or to the viewer.
Mme. Ernest Chausson, Paris by 1904 [see Brussels 1904 and Wildenstein 1964]. Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York by 1923 [see New York 1923]; sold to Martin A. Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago on February 20, 1925 [see purchase receipt dated February 20, 1925, copy in curatorial file]; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1933.
Brussels, Musée de Bruxelles, La Libre esthétique. Exposition des peintres impressionnistes, February 25–March 29, 1904, cat. 55. New York, Durand-Ruel Gallery, Gauguin, February, 1923, no cat. [confirmed by Charles Durand-Ruel’s letter of February 27, 1979, copy in curatorial file; see also New York Times 1923]. Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Exhibition of French Painting of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, March 6–April 6, 1929, cat. 43 (ill.). The Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of a Century of Progress. Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; French: ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements.
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