The Siesta

Colors in this work

Artist: Paul Gauguin
Date: ca. 1892–94
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 35 x 45 3/4 in. (88.9 x 116.2 cm)
Department: European Paintings
Holding institution: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Palette: Raw Sienna Bank · Brown family · #A07F79 · 22%

Golden Bole · Yellow family · #BE8A14 · 11%

Raw Ochre Field · Yellow family · #CB9500 · 9%

Pine Needle · Green family · #225A31 · 8%

Indigo Vault · Blue family · #171A2F · 8%

Burnt Umber Ground · Brown family · #613D29 · 7%

Raw Sienna Bank · Brown family · #D0AA88 · 7%

Aged Vellum · Yellow family · #EEC77F · 5%

Raw Sienna Bank · Brown family · #A86D3C · 5%

Raw Sienna Bank · Brown family · #AB7666 · 5%

Clay Tablet · Brown family · #7E5B46 · 3%

Lead Type · Gray family · #7D7587 · 3%

Golden Bole · Yellow family · #928F57 · 3%

Golden Bole · Yellow family · #A18763 · 2%

Charred Umber · Black family · #211C0D · 2%

Zinc Ground · Gray family · #A49BA9 · <1%

Malachite Mosaic · Green family · #409E32 · <1%

Indigo Vault · Blue family · #0B1648 · <1%

Select a color to find related artworks.
Image provider: metropolitan-museum-of-art
License: CC0-1.0
Credit: The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1993, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002

12 tags

Scenes of Everyday Life Both · 95%

The title The Siesta and the visible gathering of women on a domestic-looking platform support an ordinary, non-ceremonial scene of daily life.
Leisure Both · 96%

The title identifies a period of rest, and the figures are visibly seated, reclining, or pausing.
The Domestic and Domesticity Both · 89%

The catalog lists baskets and irons, and the image shows a basket, clothing, and an open household setting associated with domestic activity.
Human Figure Visual · 99%

Multiple clearly rendered human figures organize the composition, including seated, reclining, and standing women seen from different angles.

Post-Impressionism Interpretive · 78%

Gauguin’s simplified forms, flattened space, decorative organization, and non-naturalistic color are consistent with Post-Impressionist visual language. The supplied catalog does not state this style classification.

Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 99%

The painting uses highly saturated yellow, green, orange, pink, lavender, and blue areas with strong contrasts between adjacent forms.
Flatness Visual · 92%

Broad areas of simplified color and compressed spatial relationships, especially across the clothing, wooden floor, and background, reduce conventional depth.
Patterns Visual · 90%

Repeated decorative motifs are visible on garments and hats, while repeated floorboards and vegetation marks create a patterned surface rhythm.

Painting Metadata · 99%

The Metropolitan Museum of Art classifies the work as a painting and identifies its medium as oil on canvas.
Oil Painting Metadata · 99%

The catalog explicitly identifies the medium as oil on canvas.

Late 19th Century Art Metadata · 99%

The work is dated ca. 1892–94, placing it in the late nineteenth century.

French Art Metadata · 91%

The catalog identifies Paul Gauguin as French, supporting a French-art geographic association; this does not establish the precise place of execution.

Paul Gauguin. The Siesta. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.