This print shows an array of abstract shapes and lines on a textured background. Many forms resemble human figures, although many of their features are abstracted or exaggerated. One figure near the center has a skull-like face and is seated and with their head in their hands, looking out at us. Other shapes include a child seated on the ground on the left and a figure with long hair and wide eyes on the right, their hands clasped in prayer. In the upper half of the print, there is text in a swirling ribbon, as well as more stylized human faces, most depicted from the shoulders up. The background is filled with solid and patterned sections in shades of black, reddish-brown, and beige.

Be in Love and You will be Happy (Soyez amoureuses, vous serez heureuses)

1898-1899

Dating: Date range
Held at: National Gallery of Art
Medium: woodcut in light brown and black on chine collé
Dimensions: image: 16 × 27.3 cm (6 5/16 × 10 3/4 in.)
Collection no.: 1950.16.71
Attribution: By the artist
Image rights: NGA Open Access — unrestricted reuseLicense details

Paul Gauguin. Be in Love and You will be Happy (Soyez amoureuses, vous serez heureuses). National Gallery of Art, Washington. Open Access. Full-frame proportional resize and JPEG compression to at most 100,000 bytes; no crop or generated content.

Collection: National Gallery of Art

About this artwork

Be in Love and You will be Happy (Soyez amoureuses, vous serez heureuses) — Paul Gauguin. 1898-1899.

Medium: woodcut in light brown and black on chine collé.

Dimensions (museum labels retained): image: 16 × 27.3 cm (6 5/16 × 10 3/4 in.).

Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington. Accession 1950.16.71. Rosenwald Collection.

Museum holding does not establish current display.

Source: National Gallery of Art, CC0 collection metadata, retrieved 9 September 2026.

Location checked Sep 9, 2026. This does not indicate whether the work is on display.

Artwork sources

Image source