Driven by his strong desire to travel, Paul Gauguin sought to leave what he perceived as Europe's artificial life for a more natural and free existence. In 1891, he travelled to Tahiti in search of a simpler and more authentic way of living. The island turned out not to be the untouched paradise he had imagined, but the encounter with the people, culture, and nature became a profound source of inspiration that strongly influenced his art.

After his return to Europe in 1893, he began working on Noa Noa ("fragrance" in Tahitian), a book about his experiences, illustrated with woodcuts. These works reveal why Gauguin was drawn to printmaking: the woodcut technique provided him with a direct connection to the material and the opportunity to combine the form of sculpture with the colour of painting. He experimented with colours, paper, and printing techniques to create dreamlike images. The Noa Noa woodcuts were printed both by himself, by the printer Louis Roy during his lifetime, and later by his son Pola.