Gauguin and the Painters of Pont-AvenClosed

Exhibition Overview

Pont-Aven, a small village in Brittany in the northwest of France, was a center of creative activity that captivated many artists even before Paul Gauguin's first visit.

Gauguin came to the village from Paris in 1886. He was entranced by the majestic natural scenery and clear light he found there, as well as the traditions and folk culture that were preserved and still practiced by the locals. He returned a number of times to create new pieces, and it was here that he encountered Émile Bernard and his colleagues, with whom he established Synthetism—a new post-Impressionist style that sought to synthesize natural forms and the artist’s imagination in a single work.1 Furthermore, Gauguin became a close mentor to the young painter Paul Sérusier, who would go on to help found Les Nabis, an art movement led by artists such as Maurice Denis.

It is surely no exaggeration to say that the artistic explorations that took place in Pont-Aven drove the development of 20th century art and launched a new era in art history. This exhibition presents visitors with an opportunity to trace the major transition from Impressionism to Synthetism and Les Nabis, and then to Symbolism, and to view first-hand the individuality and staggering talent of Gauguin and his contemporaries who worked in and around Pont-Aven.

The exhibition consists of 73 works by Gauguin and other Pont-Aven artists, courtesy of the Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper and the Musée des beaux-arts de Brest, both in Brittany; the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Denmark; and other contributors. Brittany was Gauguin’s first paradise, and this is a wonderful opportunity to take an artistic journey through the region.

1: Synthetism was an art style founded in 1888 by Gauguin and his close contemporaries. The objective was to depict the actual world and the imaginary world on a single canvas, using clear forms and means of expression. This visualization of the unseen world was one quality that came to define modern art.

Exhibition Highlights

(Please note that exhibited pieces may change without notice)

Section I: Gauguin’s First Visit in 1886

In the summer of 1886, Gauguin paid his first visit to Pont-Aven, a well-known gathering place for artists. He was struggling financially, and the village not only offered new subjects and a change in scenery, but also an inexpensive place to live. The sojourn proved to be creatively rich and fulfilling for Gauguin. He stayed in Pont-Aven from mid-July to mid-October, and produced 18 oil paintings as well as numerous sketches. During this time, Gauguin’s friend Claude-Émile Schuffenecker and the young artist Émile Bernard were also staying in the village. After Gauguin’s return to Paris in the autumn, he produced a number of vases and other ceramic pieces featuring Pont-Aven motifs at the studio of the ceramic artist Ernest Chaplet.

Featured works

• Émile Bernard Draps mortuaires. Etudes de scènes de préparation de funérailles (Palls: Study of funeral preparations) (1885), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Paul Gauguin Gourde de pélerinage (Pilgrimage vase) (1887), Private Collection/Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Claude-Émile Schuffenecker Cote Rocheuse en Bretagne (Rocky coast of Brittany) (1886), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Émile Bernard Draps mortuaires. Etudes de scènes de préparation de funérailles (1885) Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France

Section II: Establishment of Synthetism

In January 1888, Gauguin returned to Pont-Aven, once again in a precarious financial state. That summer, Émile Bernard visited Gauguin, bearing a letter of recommendation from Vincent van Gogh. Bernard was still in his early 20s, but Gauguin welcomed him warmly. He was impressed by the young artist’s passion and talent for art theory, and showed a keen interest in his Cloisonnism style.2 The artistic relationship between the two would eventually lead to the establishment of Synthetism. It was a method that resolved ambiguities between two disparate spaces or concepts by achieving a balance, on a single painted surface, between objective reality and projections of the imagination. This development ensured Pont-Aven’s place in the history of modern art.

2: Cloisonnism is a style of painting involving areas of flat colors outlined by dark contours.

Featured works

• Claude-Émile Schuffenecker Cote Rocheuse en Bretagne (Rocky coast of Brittany) (1886), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Paul Gauguin Nature morte aux oignons et à l’estampe japonaise (Still life with onions and a Japanese print) (1889), Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
• Paul Sérusier L’Incantation ou un roman Le Bois sacré (The incantation, or a story: The sacred woods) (1891), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Émile Bernard La conversation (esquisse de vitrail, Saint-Briac) (The conversation (stained glass sketch in Saint-Briac)) (1887), Musée des beaux-arts de Brest, France
• Henry Moret Paysage de Pont-Aven (Landscape of Pont-Aven) (1888-89), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France　　
• Paul Gauguin Paysage breton avec femmes bretonnes (Breton landscape with Breton women) (1888) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
• Paul Gauguin Deux enfants (Two children) (1889(?)) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Section III: Sojourn in Le Pouldu, and the expansion of the group

In the spring of 1889, Gauguin and others in his group held an “Exhibition of Paintings by the Impressionist and Synthetist Group” at the Café des Arts. The show, which coincided with the Exposition Universelle in Paris, featured works created at Pont-Aven that celebrated the charms of Brittany. Six months later, Gauguin and his colleagues returned to Pont-Aven, but they found the village overrun by artists of the Academism school. Unable to bear such company, his group decamped to the nearby village of Le Pouldu. They stayed at the auberge of Marie Henry, where they decorated the dining hall, working together in an explosion of mutually invigorating and fertile creative expression. It proved to be a highly fruitful period in Gauguin’s career, and it was around this time that he began dreaming of going to Tahiti.

Featured works

• Louis Roy Nature morte au vase de Quimper (Still life with Quimper vase) (1890), Musée des beaux-arts de Brest, France
• Georges Lacombe Trois Bigoudènes dans la forêt (Three Breton women in the forest) (1894), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Henri Delavallée La maison familiale d'Apremont, Oise (Apremont family home, Oise) (1892), Musée des beaux-arts de Brest, France
• Armand Seguin Bretonne allongée ou La Primavera (Breton woman reclining, or La Primavera) (1895), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France　
• Louis Roy Nature morte au vase de Quimper (1890) Musée des beaux-arts de Brest, France

Section IV: Gauguin’s last sojourn in Brittany and final contemporaries

In the summer of 1893, Gauguin came back from Tahiti and stayed in Paris to promote the sale of his new works. Later, in April 1894, he returned to Le Pouldu before settling in Pont-Aven. Gauguin suffered a leg injury, and as a result did not produce many new works during this period. Several months later, he left France to explore new territory in Oceania, traveling to the Marquesas Islands. By then, the Pont-Aven group consisted of a large number of young artists who were drawn to Gauguin's charisma, dominating individuality, and genius—and it was here in Pont-Aven and the rest of Brittany that they played a key role in launching the major art movements that came to shape the world of 20th century art.

Featured works

• Maurice Denis, Bretonne dans un barque (Breton woman in a small boat) (1891-92), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Ferdinand Loyen du Puigaudeau Paysage à la chaumière (Landscape with cottage) (1921), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Maximillien Luce Côte rocheuse (Rocky coast) (1893), Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France
• Maurice Denis Malon et les hortensias (Malon and the hydrangeas) (1920), Musée des beaux-arts de Brest, France
• Paul Gauguin Paysage de Tahiti (Tahiti landscape) (1893?) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, France
• Bretonne dans un barque (1891-92) Musée des beaux-arts de Quimper, France