The Loss of Virginity
Artist
Paul Gauguin
(French, 1848 - 1903)
CultureFrench
Date1890-1891
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions35 1/4 × 51 1/4 in. (89.5 × 130.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 46 × 61 1/2 × 3 in. (116.8 × 156.2 × 7.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 46 × 61 1/2 × 3 in. (116.8 × 156.2 × 7.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.510
Collections
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. Lying deathlike on the ground, a naked maiden holds a plucked flower (an iris?), a traditional symbol of lost innocence. With her left arm she embraces an evil-eyed fox, who precipitates her downfall with a paw upon her heart. In the background, composed of broad fields color with dark outlines, peasants, possibly part of a wedding party walk along a narrow path.Label TextPaul Gauguin French, 1848–1903 The Loss of Virginity, 1890–91 Oil on canvas Watch out! A fox seems to threaten a young girl lying on the ground in rural Brittany near the French coast. The sheaf of wheat at her feet symbolizes the fertility of the land, while the menacing fox disrupts the innocence of this remote area. Soon after completing this painting, Paul Gauguin departed for Tahiti in search of a place and people uncorrupted by modern life. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.510 ProvenanceThe artist, 1891-1895; Gauguin sale, Hôtel des Ventes, Paris, Feb. 18, 1895; Comte Antoine de la Rochefoucauld, Paris, 1895-1948; Bequeathed to the son of Comte Antoine de la Rochefoucauld, E. Rochefoucauld, a dealer, who sold it to Clement Altarriba; Altarriba collection, Paris, (also a dealer); Matthey collection, Paris, 1949; E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York, 1954-1955; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, 1971. Exhibition History"Gauguin," Galerie Dru, Paris, 1923. (Exhib. cat. no. 20). "Gauguin," Orangerie des Tuileries, Paris, Summer 1949. (Exhib. cat. no. 24). "Paul Gauguin," Kunstmuseum, Basel, Nov. 26, 1949 - Jan. 29, 1950. (Exhib. cat. no. 41). "Gauguin," Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, 1950. (Exhib. cat. no. 40). "Motif in Painting," Norton Gallery of Art, Palm Beach, Feb. 7 - March 2, 1952. (Exhib. cat. no. 8). "Paul Gauguin. His Place in the Meeting of East and West," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 27 - April 25, 1954. (Exhib. cat. no. 23). "The Two Sides of the Medal. French Painting from Gérôme to Gauguin," Detroit Institute of Arts, 1954. (Exhib. cat. no. 107). "Gauguin Paintings, Engravings, and Sculpture," Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, and Tate Gallery, London, Sept. 30 - Oct. 26, 1955. (Exhib. cat. no. 37). "Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon; Seattle Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Art Institute; St. Louis City Art Museum; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 2, 1956 - April 14, 1957. (Exhib. cat. no. 84). "Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition," Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1958. (Exhib. cat. no. 21). "Gauguin," Art Institute of Chicago and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Feb. 12 - May 31, 1959. (Exhib. cat. no. 26). "French Paintings, 1789-1929, from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, March 25 - May 22, 1960. (Exhib. cat. no. 69). "The Controversial Century 1850-1950," Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1962. (Exhib. cat. not paged). "Gauguin and the Pont-Aven Group," Tate Gallery, London, Jan. 7 - Feb. 13, 1966. (Exhib. cat. no. 36). "The Sacred and Profane in Symbolist Art," Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1969. (Exhib. cat. no. 89). "Puvis de Chavannes and the Modern Tradition," Art Gallery of Ontario, Oct. 24 - Nov. 30, 1975. (Exhib. cat. no. 52). "Le Symbolisme en Europe," Museum Boymansvan Beuningen, Rotterdam, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, and Grand Palais, Paris, Nov. 14, 1975 - July 19, 1976. (Exhib. cat. no. 55). "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, June 12 - Sept. 5, 1977. (Exhib. cat. no. 42). "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. (Exhib. cat. no. 25). "Vincent Van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism," Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, and Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam, Jan. 24 - June 14, 1981. (Exhib. cat. no. 70). "French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum", North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, May 31 - September 14, 1986; Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, November 6, 1986 - January 18, 1987. (Exhib. cat. no. 40). "Paul Gauguin," Museum Folkwang, Essen, June 1 -October 18, 1998; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, November 6, 1998 - January 10, 1999. "Gauguin's Nirvana: Painters at Le Pouldu, 1889-1890," Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford CT, Jan. 26 - April 29, 2001. (Exhib. cat. no. 86). "Van Gogh and Gauguin: The 'Studio of the South'," Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, September 11, 2001-January 13, 2002; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 9-June 2, 2002. "Gauguin Tahiti," Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., February 29 - June 20, 2004. "Gauguin in Tahiti," National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan, July 3 - September 23, 2009. "Gauguin: The Maker of Myth," Tate Modern, London, England, September 30, 2010 - January 16, 2011; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., February 21 - May 30, 2011. “Paul Gauguin," Beyeler Museum, Basel, Switzerland, February 8 – June 28, 2015. "The Agrarian Ideal: Monet, van Gogh, Homer," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, October 7, 2016 - January 8, 2017. Published ReferencesBertina S. Manning, _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_, exh. cat., Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oreg., 1956, no. 84. Priscilla C. Colt and Charles H. Elam, _French Paintings 1789-1929 from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._, exh. cat, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio, 1960, no. 69. Charles F. Comfort and William S.A. Dale, _The Controversial Century: 1850-1950_, exh. cat., Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown, Provincetown, Ma., 1962, not paged. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya, _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._, exh. cat., Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, Tn., 1977, no. 42. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya, _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_, exh. cat., Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1978, no. 25. LCCN: 78-52261 _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_ (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 65. Jefferson C. Harrison, _French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1986), 79-82, no. 40. *See for further references. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 152-153, pl. 119. Gilles Genty, _Paul Élie Ranson 1861-1909_ (Paris: Somogy Editions d'Art, 1997), 24. ISBN: 2-85056-297-1 _Nikkei Art_, Japan; October 1997. Joichiro Kawamura, _Introduction to the Fin de Siécle's Paintings_ (Tokyo, Japan: Shinchosha Book Division, 1998), 87. Georg-W. Költzsch, _Paul Gauguin, Das Verlorene Paradies_ (Essen: Museum Folkwang, 1998), pl. 9. Georg-W. Költzsch, _Vernissage_ (Berlin: Die Zeitschrift Zur Ausstellung, Nr. 12/1998 6), 20. Patricia Mathews, _Passionate Discontent: Creativity, Gender, And French Symbolist Art_ (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 164. Mariano Rajoy Brey, Juan Carlos Elorza Guinea, Ángel Olivares Ramírez, and Eduardo Francés Conde with contributing authors, _El Jardin De Melibea_ (Burgos: Monasterio de San Juan, 2000), 247. *In Spanish. Eric M. Zafran, ed., _Gauguin's Nirvana: Painters at Le Pouldu 1889-90_ (New Haven: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, in association with Yale University Press, 2001), 54-55, no. 86. *Also reproduced on the cover, in detail, of the Yale University Press Spring 2001 catalog. Douglas W. Druick and Peter Kort Zegers, _Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South_, exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois and The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2001-2002, 335. Nancy Mowll Mathews, _Paul Gauguin: An Erotic Life_ (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001), 160, fig. 51. Colta Ives, Susan Alyson Stein, Charlotte Hale and Marjorie Shelley, _The Lure of the Exotic: Gauguin in New York Collections_, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, N.Y., 2002, 172, 200. Kymberly N. Pinder, ed. _Race-ing Art History_ (New York: Routledge, 2002), 143-144, fig. 7.1. Claire Frèches-Thory, George T.M. Shackelford, et al., _Gauguin Tahiti, l'atelier des tropiques_, exh. cat., Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France, 2003, 15, 16, 19, 201, 381. George T.M. Shackelford and Claire Frèches-Thory, et al., _Gauguin Tahiti_, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Ma., 2004, cat. no. 5, 12, 13, 350. David H. Lawrence, _Der Fuchs: Mit einem Nachwort von Doris Lessing_ (Berlin: Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, 2004), cover. Guillermo Solana, _Gauguin and the Origins of Symbolism_, exh. cat., Fundación Caja Madrid and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, 2004, 32. Tatsuru Takahashi, ed., _The History of Impressionism_ (Japan: Shogakukan Inc., 2004), 393. Paul Greenhalgh, _The Modern Ideal: The Rise and Collapse of Idealism in the Visual Arts, From the Enlightenment to Postmodernism_ (London: V & A Publications, 2005), 165, Fig. 4.14. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 50, fig. 49. Michelle Facos, _Symbolist Art in Context_ (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009), 143 fig. 63. _Paul Gauguin: D'où Venons Nous Que Sommes Nous Où Allons Nous_, DVD. Tokyo: NHK Enterprises, 2009. The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, eds., _Paul Gauguin_, exh. cat., Tokyo: NHK, NHK Promotions INC., 2009, 54-55. Nancy Ireson, _Gauguin_, exh. cat., Tate Modern, London, UK, 2010. 54-55, fig. 42. Belinda Thomson, ed., _Gauguin: Maker of Myth_, exh. cat., Tate Modern, London, UK, 2010, 123, fig. 55. _Tate Oct/Nov_exh. cat., Tate Modern, London, UK, 2010, 50. _Elsewhere: Gauguin_, exh. cat., Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, 2010, 28, fig. 11. William H. Robinson, _Picasso and the Mysteries of Life: La Vie_ (London: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with D Giles Limited, London, 2012) 90, fig. 103. Starr Figura, _Gauguin: Metamorphoses_ (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2014) 55. Raphaël Bouvier and Martin Schwander, eds., _Paul Gauguin_ (Basel: Fondation Beyeler, 2015) 72-73. Allison Morehead, "Defending Deformation: Maurice Denis's Positivist Modernism" _Art History_ (2015) 11, fig. 10. Allison Morehead, _Nature's Experiments and the Search for Symbolist Form_, (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017), fig. 28, pg. 59. Dario Gamboni, "Homo Absconditus: Harald Sohlberg and Symbolist Lanscape," _Harald Sohlberg - Infinite Landscapes_, (Munich: Hirmer Verland, 2018), ill. 9, p. 47. Liliana Beatrice Ricciardi, _Le rose del Piacere - Da Zeus a Sperelli violenza e seduzione_, (Modena: Il Bulino edizioni d'arte, 2018), fig. 35, pg. 46.
