| The Siesta | |
| Artist: | Paul Gauguin |
| Year: | 1892 to 1894 |
| Type: | Oil paint on canvas |
| Dimensions: | 88.9cmx116.2cmcm (35inchesx45.7inchescm) |
| City: | New York City |
| Museum: | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
The Siesta is an 1892-1894 oil on canvas painting by Paul Gauguin, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.[1] It was painted during Gauguin's first extended trip to the island of Tahiti.
The picture is an unpretentious representation of a group of Tahitian women in westernised clothes chatting in the cool shade of a verandah during the hot afternoon sun. One of the women is doing her ironing.[2] Although the subject matter was an aspect of everyday life, Gauguin worked on the canvas over a long period, making several changes - the shopping bag in the foreground, for example, was previously a dog.