Christmas Night (The Blessing of the Oxen)

Christmas Night (The Blessing of the Oxen, 1900) at the Indianapolis Museum of Art belongs to Gauguin's return to religious subject matter in his late Marquesan years, when the intersection of Catholic ceremony and traditional Polynesian culture was increasingly visible in his work. The blessing of the oxen at Christmas was a French Catholic agricultural ceremony that had been transplanted to Polynesia through the mission churches, and Gauguin's interest in it reflected both his genuine fascination with Catholic ritual and his observation of how European religious customs had been absorbed into Pacific culture. By 1900 he was living on Hiva Oa and in open conflict with the French colonial authorities, and his sympathy with the Marquesan people included their religious life — the blend of Catholic observance and traditional spirituality that the missionaries had created. The Indianapolis Museum's two Gauguins — this late canvas and the 1875 Landscape with Poplars — span his entire career with unusual temporal breadth.

The nocturnal setting gives the canvas a dark, rich palette punctuated by the warm light of the ceremony. Gauguin renders the figures and animals in simplified silhouette against the night. His late handling is more loosely applied than his middle period, with broader passages of color and less systematic outline work.