Category: Tahiti

Watercolors of Tahiti, by John Lafarge (1835–1910). An American artist who also did the stained glass windows in H. H. Richardson’s Trinity Church, Lafarge went on a trip exploring the South Seas in 1891. There is another post on this blog with Samoa images from the same trip.

Study of Reef, Tautira, Tahiti. ca. 1891. American. Watercolor and gouache on paper. John Lafarge, watercolorist (1835-1910). Private collection. Image © Swann Auction Galleries. Fair use license. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/JOHN-LAFARGE-(1835—1910)-Study-of-Reef-Tautira-Tahiti?saleno=2696&lotNo=36&refNo=826274

The Island of Moorea Looking across the Strait from Tahiti, January 1891. American. Watercolor, gouache and graphite on heavy tan wove paper. John Lafarge, watercolorist (1835-1910). Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York. In the public domain. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11377
The Aorai, Tahiti. 1891. American. Watercolor and gouache on paper. John Lafarge, watercolorist (1835-1910). Signed and dated Lafarge 1891 on the lower right with a pencil inscription of the lower left that reads: ahiti – The Aorai looking S from Papeete – May 29. 30. Noon near consulate opposite the entrance to Queen Marau’s Then on either side of picture – the plateau of the ____ occupies the first open space below trees – there is a sketch in pencil for this. Sky had changed at that moment tho’ the sky wasn’t clear for more than 1/2 hour. Image © 2025 Grogan & Company, Inc, Boston. Fair use license. https://www.groganco.com/auction-lot/john-la-farge-american-1835-1910-the-aorai_5394B6B89B
Study of Afterglow from Nature (Tahiti: Entrance to Tautira Valley). 1891. American. Watercolor and gouache with graphite and black colored pencil on cream wove paper. John Lafarge, watercolorist (1835-1910). J. Evans rescan of an old Bruce M. White transparency. Collections of the Princeton University Museum. Artwork itself in the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 100 years ago. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Farge,_John,_Study_of_Afterglow_from_Nature_%28Tahiti,_Entrance_to_Tautira_Valley%29,_1891.jpg