This fecund, sun-kissed Indian woman carries a cornucopia-like basket filled with tropical fruit above her head. As a Latin American modernist, Guayasamín was well aware of the powerful, self-consciously "primitive" style of European artists, from Paul Gauguin in the 19th century to Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse in the 20th century. Gauguin represented non-European women in a similar fashion in works such as Women with Mango Blossoms from 1899, which he made while living in Tahiti. In Guayasamín's image, the desirable body and exposed breasts of the woman are like the pineapples, pears and papayas she holds; all are offered to the viewer. Her breasts are high, round and perfectly symmetrical; they represent a non-maternal, sexualized Western ideal. Guayasamín's image of a ripe and literally fruitful woman references early European myths about the beautiful, fecund, and sexually uninhibited women of the Americas.
