| Artist | Paul Gauguin |
|---|---|
| Year | 1899 |
| Type | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 94 cm × 72 cm (37 in × 28.5 in) |
| Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. |
Two Tahitian Women is an 1899 painting by Paul Gauguin.
The painting depicts two topless women, one holding mango blossoms, on the Pacific Island of Tahiti. Currently, the painting is housed at the National Gallery of Art,[1] on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.[2]
Although Tahiti is depicted as an innocent paradise, the two women in the painting confront the viewer in a way similar to that in Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (1863) or Olympia (1863),[3] and follow an artistic tradition of comparing woman's breasts to flowers or fruit.[4] The women in the painting also appear in two other works by Gauguin, Faa Iheihe (Tahitian Pastoral) (1898) and Rupe, Rupe (1899).[2]
The painting was attacked April 1, 2011, when a woman banged on the painting's plastic cover. Due to the protection of the plexiglass, the painting was not harmed. The woman was “immediately restrained and detained” by the museum’s security guards who charged her with destruction of property and attempted theft.[5][6]
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