Otahi

{{short description|1893 painting by Paul Gauguin}} {{Infobox artwork | title = Otahi | image_file = File:Paul Gauguin 093.jpg | image_size = | other_language_1 = | other_title_1 = | artist = [[Paul Gauguin]] | year = 1893 | medium = [[Oil on Canvas]] | height_metric = 50 | width_metric = 73 | height_imperial = | width_imperial = | metric_unit = | imperial_unit = | museum = [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] | city = }} '''Otahi''' (French: Seule - English: Alone) is an 1893 [[oil on canvas]] painting by the [[Post-Impressionist]] artist [[Paul Gauguin]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://portlandartmuseum.org/now-on-view-paul-gauguin-otahi-1893/ | title=Now on View: Paul Gauguin, Otahi (1893) | date=21 May 2015 }}</ref>

Painted in [[Tahiti]], the pose the subject takes is considered one to have been [[taboo]] as it is one where the woman makes herself ready for sexual penetration. The woman wears a [[pareo]] around her loin.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w7DQCQAAQBAJ&dq=otahi+paul+gauguin&pg=PA180 | title=Paul Gauguin: The Mysterious Centre of Thought | isbn=9781780234083 | last1=Gamboni | first1=Dario | date=15 September 2014 | publisher=Reaktion Books }}</ref>

The work was part of a lawsuit between Russian billionaire [[Dmitry Rybolovlev]], Swiss art dealer [[Yves Bouvier]], and the auction house [[Sotheby's]], with the former accusing the two latter parties of inflating prices. Otahi, which was purchased by Rybolovlev for a reputed sum of $120 million US, only resold for some odd $50 million US, resulting in a considerable loss.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/dmitry-rybolovlev-sothebys-suit-1362958 | title=Russian Billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev Accuses Sotheby's of Price Inflation in a $380 Million Suit | date=3 October 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bloombergquint.com/amp/pursuits/a-100-million-mystery-a-russian-his-art-and-his-big-losses | title=A $100 Million Mystery: A Russian, His Art, and His Big Losses | date=25 February 2017 }}</ref>

In 2025, the painting was given to the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] by the estate of [[Jerry Perenchio]].<ref>https://collections.lacma.org/node/2312090</ref>

==See also== * [[List of most expensive paintings]]

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otahi}} [[Category:1893 paintings]] [[Category:Paintings by Paul Gauguin]] [[Category:Oil paintings on canvas]]