Still Life with Onion and Japanese Woodcut

This 1889 Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek canvas combines a domestic still life with the Japanese woodcut visible in the background — one of Gauguin's most explicit acknowledgments of the Japanese influence on Post-Impressionist art. The Japanese print hung on the wall behind the onion and everyday objects creates a cultural juxtaposition that was entirely deliberate: Gauguin and his contemporaries collected Japanese prints avidly and understood them as models of flat color, bold outline, and compressed space. The inclusion of the print as part of the composition announces his artistic allegiances while creating an unusual layered pictorial space.

The composition works in two planes: the foreground still life of onion and everyday objects, and the Japanese print on the wall behind that flattens and decorates the background. Gauguin's handling of the still life objects is simplified and Synthetist, matching the flat graphic quality of the Japanese print. The palette combines domestic ochres with the vivid colors of the woodcut.