(Leda”) Design for a Plate: Shame on Those Who Evil Think (Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense) ; cover illustration for the “Volpini Suite” entitled Lithographic Drawings (Dessins lithographiques)”

Description

Paul Gauguin’s Leda places a woman’s profile within a circular design. Her head and upper body occupy one side, while curving decorative forms follow the surrounding edge. The arrangement makes figure and ornament closely related, allowing the circle to contain a compact, rhythmic image. The printed cover’s lettering adds another visual register, bringing the drawn design into contact with the identity of the portfolio it introduces.

Created in 1889, this zincograph served as a cover illustration for the Volpini Suite. This particular impression was colored by hand with watercolor and gouache, joining printed marks to added painted passages. Gauguin’s circular conception gives the sheet a decorative center, while the surrounding cover establishes another frame. Its interest lies in the crossing of forms: a design conceived for a plate becomes part of a portfolio cover, with figure, border and text sharing the surface.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Paul Gauguin collection.