Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00000256In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)
by Paul Gauguin
About the Artwork
Painted at Pont-Aven in northwest France, this depiction of a nude figure throwing herself into the sea suggests a metaphor for a modern European woman forsaking civilization and abandoning herself to her natural, primitive instincts. The simplified lines and exaggerated colors, especially the contrasting green and orange, seem invented rather than observed from life. Exhibiting the painting at the Café Volpini in Paris in 1889, Gauguin established himself as a leader of the Symbolist movement in art.
Inscriptions
Signed lower center: P Gauguin. 89-
Provenance
1890: On consignment with Boussod & Valadon, Paris, FR. 1891: (Gauguin sale, Paris, FR, February 23, 1891, lot 14, to M. Jeanson) 1906: (Joseph Hessel, Paris, FR, March 1906, sold to Gustave Fayet) 1906–1907: (Gustave Fayet [1865–1925], Paris, FR, February 1907, sold to Ambroise Vollard) probably 1923: (Paul Éluard, Paris, FR, who probably bought it at Galerie Dru in 1923) 1927: (Drouot, Paris, FR, December 12, 1927, lot 103, sold to Hessel) 1928: Leicester Galleries, London, UK. 1929: Purchased by Frank H. Ginn, Cleveland, OH 1978: Mr. and Mrs. Powell Jones, Gates Mills, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1978–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979). Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987). The Art of Paul Gauguin. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer) (May 1-July 31, 1988); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (September 17-December 11, 1988); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France, Paris, France (January 9-April 24, 1989). Gauguin's 'Nirvana'. Painters at Le Pouldu, 1889-1890. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (organizer) (January 27-April 29, 2001). Gauguin and the Origins of Symbolism. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (September 28, 2004-January 9, 2005). CMA Highlights. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 21-September 11, 2005). Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009). Paul Gauguin: Paris, 1889. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 18, 2010); Van Gogh Museum, 1070 AJ Amsterdam, Netherlands (February 18-June 6, 2010). Gauguin: Maker of Myth. Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (September 30, 2010-January 18, 2011); National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (February 21-May 30, 2011). Friction of Ideas: Gauguin, Van Gogh, Bernard. Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund, Copenhagen, Denmark (organizer) (February 6-June 22, 2014). Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (June 25-September 10, 2017); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (October 9, 2017-January 21, 2018).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903)
- Date
- 1889
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 123.8 x 106 x 7 cm (48 3/4 x 41 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 92.5 x 72.4 cm (36 7/16 x 28 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Powell Jones
- Accession no.
- 1978.63
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Open-access museum record · AT-00000256
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