Head of a Monkey; Inventory of Bottles and Beverages [verso] 1884 - 1888

Curator: Right, let’s consider this intriguing double-sided work by Paul Gauguin. It’s titled "Head of a Monkey; Inventory of Bottles and Beverages [verso]", dating from between 1884 and 1888. It's rendered in pencil on paper. Editor: My first thought? It's delightfully chaotic. The sketch on the left feels like a landscape fighting to emerge from a fog of uncertainty. And the one on the right, the supposed "inventory," reads like a map to a slightly deranged adventure. Curator: Indeed! The "landscape" is sparse, almost primal in its simplicity, but within it, notice how elements suggestive of cages, the implied primate figure…they begin to evoke a sense of confinement and observation, almost as if hinting at Gauguin's later fascination with the exotic "other". Editor: The monkey head, if that’s what it is, looks more like a disgruntled potato. And those bottles—unless Gauguin had a penchant for drawing topographical maps of his beverages—are far from straightforward representations. What kind of drinks are we talking about here? Mystery Juice #1? Curator: Ah, there's the beauty of it! The text seems like notes on places he has been like Hamburg and Cologne; “visite de Douane” – customs visit in Hamburg; an interesting parallel with how, later, Gauguin self-consciously constructs his own identity as outsider, "savage," always seemingly at the edge of accepted society. Even, as the title suggests, somewhat confined…as if this page captures him struggling for artistic and social freedom? Editor: Or perhaps he was simply bored waiting in customs! It’s that raw energy of a creative mind just spilling thoughts onto the page that draws me in. It is not a masterpiece but a backstage pass into the studio. Curator: Perhaps. And what fascinates me, too, is seeing in it all, a very clear echo of symbolism he would later come to define as "synthetism." This piece anticipates that distillation of emotion into image. Editor: Hmm. For me, I see not a prophecy but a diary entry from an interesting, though at this moment rather under-caffeinated, individual. Curator: Regardless, it gives us a very revealing intimate snapshot into the genesis of his work…the mind of Gauguin at play. Editor: Precisely. A doodle that hints at the volcano of artistic exploration about to erupt. Now I really need that Mystery Juice…