The Call
Painted on a remote island in Polynesia a year before the artist's death, The Call belongs to a series of late works that explore the mysteries of life and death. Two women stand with bare feet, as if on sacred ground. One woman gestures to someone outside the picture, perhaps responding to a "call" from fate or destiny. Gauguin realized his ambition of painting from memory and the imagination through such mysterious, dreamlike images.
Colors in this work
Details
- Date
- 1902
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- framed: height 1.605 m, width 1.19 m, depth 0.095 m; unframed: height 1.313 m, width 0.895 m
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Gift of the Hanna Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
10 tags
Subject Matter
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Human Figure Visual · 100%
Three human figures are visible: two standing women and a seated figure viewed from behind.
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Figures in Nature Visual · 100%
The figures are situated outdoors among trees, grass, flowering plants, and open ground.
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Flora Visual · 98%
A prominent foreground grouping contains flowering plants and leafy vegetation.
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Implied Narrative Both · 92%
The raised pointing gesture suggests an unresolved action directed toward something outside the frame, while the title and catalog description refer to a mysterious call and possibly fate or destiny.
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Mortality Metadata · 84%
The museum describes the painting as part of Gauguin’s late works exploring the mysteries of life and death.
Visual Qualities
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Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 94%
Saturated red, pink, green, and blue-violet passages produce strong chromatic contrasts across the ground, clothing, vegetation, and background.
Medium and Techniques
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Painting Metadata · 100%
The Cleveland Museum of Art classifies The Call as a painting.
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Oil Painting Metadata · 100%
The catalog identifies the medium as oil on canvas.
Time Periods
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1900 - 1917 Art Metadata · 100%
The work is dated 1902, placing it within the 1900–1917 period.
Geographic Regions
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French Art Metadata · 95%
The catalog gives the place of origin as France and identifies Gauguin as French.
Source & rights
Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903). The Call. Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 10,517 × 15,608 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available