Visions of an Enduring World: Jacoulet and the People of Oceania

Leisure of Paradise

Jacoulet’s portraits provide his honest interpretation of an ending paradise. During his travels through the Pacific islands tourists commonly viewed the islanders as doomed for extinction. His portraits envelope this theme by displaying the beauty of these islands and their people. Part of this beauty is the leisure of his subjects. His beautiful subjects are often depicted sitting and lounging surrounded by beautiful clothes, colors, and flowers, creating a sense of a transitory beauty floating into extinction.

How does this portrait of paradisal leisure compare to the intricate carvings of a ceremonial object?

PREMIER AMOUR. YAP, QUEST CAROLINES 
Paul Jacoulet
Japan, c. 1937
Woodblock print 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Child
1982.133.15
Entitled “First Love” this portrait depicts a young Yapese girl covered only in a large skirt and garland flowers. The background is a mixture of pink pigments, wax, and silver mica. This young Yapese known only as Mio also appears in another Jacoulet portrait entitled YAGOUROUGH ET MIO .


MEDICINE CANOE
Solomon Islands, c. 1870s
Dark wood canoe with carvings and tied together with twine
Estate of John C.V. Lucas
2001.15.1
This ceremonial object is made of dark wood with geometrical and rectilinear carvings revealing the light brown areas underneath. Sparse use of colors with preferences of black and red are common features of artistic styles in the Solomon Islands. The end tips of the canoe have a carving of a face on one side and a spider pattern on the other. In central Solomons these carvings often serve both as ornamentation and as guardians of canoes that presumably represent spirits.

 

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