Te Atua (`The Gods’) belongs to a series of ten woodcuts known collectively as NOA NOA (`Fragrant Scent') which Gauguin made upon his return to Paris in August 1893 after his first sojourn in Tahiti. Roughly cut, gouged and scratched using a knife, needle and sandpaper, the blocks were initially proofed by Gauguin himself, using his hands instead of a press to selectively apply pressure while printing and varying the inking for each impression.

Te Atua draws upon syncretistic spiritual sources, blending Eastern and Polynesian iconography. The frieze-like composition is divided into three niches, each occupied by deities. To the left Hina, the Polynesian goddess of the moon, her hand raised, petitions her lover, Tefatou, god of the earth, to grant humanity immortality. She appears again on the right, as an idol with an elaborate headdress, flanked by offerings of fruit and flowers. The central figure recalls a Buddha-like figure, legs crossed in the lotus position. Each are based on sculptures which Gauguin carved in Tahiti in 1892: Hina and Fatu, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Idole á la perle, Musée d’Orsay, Paris; and Hina with Two Attendants, Hirschhorn Museum, Washington D.C (from left to right).

Only the earliest impressions printed by the artist, as with this rare example, reflect the full subtlety of the woodcut. For this impression the block was lightly inked so that the finest lines, created with sandpaper to modulate the faces and bodies of the deities, print with great clarity. This detail is lost in the proofs which Gauguin printed in two colours, and in the edition of 25-30 impressions printed by Louis Roy, which are all heavily inked.

Mongan, Kornfeld & Joachim were aware of only three impressions of this state, two in public collections (Kustmuseum, Basel; Art Institute of Chicago); and another example, presumably this one, `Formerly Béziers, Fayet Collection. Printed in black. On Japan with small margins, laid down on Japan'.