''Still Life with Head-Shaped Vase and Japanese Woodcut'' is an 1889

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

painting by French artist, Paul Gauguin. It is currently in the collection of the

Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...

in Tehran, Iran.

History

In 1888 and 1889 Gauguin's enthusiasm for Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts emerged. Japanese prints appeared in the background of his ''Apple and Vase'' painting, his portrait of '' The Schuffenecker Family'' and also ''Still Life with Head-Shaped Vase and Japanese Woodcut'', which depicts an ukiyo-e portrait of an actor. The painting was formerly owned by

Josef Rosensaft Josef Rosensaft (January 15, 1911 – September 11, 1975) was a Holocaust survivor who led the community of Jewish displaced persons (Sh'erit ha-Pletah) through the establishment of a Central Committee of Liberated Jews that first served the inter ...

, a Holocaust survivor who led the community of Jewish displaced persons, who died in September 1975. He left a formidable art collection that had to be sold to settle debts related to the acquisition of the art and by some accounts an extravagant lifestyle. The 1976 sale arranged by Sotheby's was bought in its entirety by the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, where it all remains today and is one of the oldest paintings in the museum's collection."Iran Has Been Hiding One of the World’s Great Collections of Modern Art"
'' Bloomberg Businessweek''. Retrieved December 13, 2015. This sale set a record for Still Life with Japanese Woodcut at $1.4 million, and the work is currently valued at $45 million. During the direction of

Mahmoud Shalouithe Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with '' Muhammad''. Siam Mahmud * Mahmood (singer) (bor ...

, the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington, D.C. and the Tate Modern in London tried to borrow the painting but the requests were rejected.

Notes

References

* * {{Paul Gauguin 1889 paintings Paintings by Paul Gauguin Paintings in the collection of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Still life paintings