Avant et après - drawing "Les saintes images", 1903 (graphite, pen and black ink, black...

Autograph manuscript for Gauguin’s last literary work, Avant et après, Atuana, Marquesas Islands, January- February 1903. Handwritten hardcover notebook. Avant et après is the last major manuscript by Paul Gauguin. Part-memoir and part-manifesto, the 213-page manuscript reveals important insights into Gauguin’s life, relationships and thoughts, and includes numerous drawings and prints by the artist. It was written in 1903, the year of the artist’s death, at his home on the Marquesas island of Hiva Ova, French Polynesia. In addition to anecdotes about his friendships and opinions on the work of Degas, Pissarro, Signac and Cézanne, a key section in the manuscript reflects on the period that Gauguin stayed with Vincent van Gogh in Arles. Gauguin describes the incident in which Van Gogh severed his own ear after a violent quarrel with his fellow artist, a passage that was long regarded as the primary source of information about that fateful and infamous event. 29x20.7 cm (album page - approx.) Accepted in lieu of Estate Duty by HM Government and allocated to The Courtauld, 2020