Three People, a Mask, a Fox and a Bird, headpiece for Le sourire 1899

This woodcut print, "Three People, a Mask, a Fox and a Bird, headpiece for Le sourire," is a striking example of Paul Gauguin’s distinctive style. The composition, with its bold black lines and simplified forms, evokes a sense of primitivism. Gauguin’s use of flattened perspective and symbolic imagery is characteristic of his artistic practice, especially during his time in Tahiti. "Le sourire" ("The Smile") is a title of a journal Gauguin started in 1898. The print is part of a series of illustrations that appeared in that publication. It was created using the woodcut technique, a process that involved carving the image into a block of wood. The stark contrasts between black and white are characteristic of this method.