After writing a 1,000 word piece about Winslow Homer's eighteen month stay at an English fishing village, I'm writing a series of primers about other artists who made similar journeys.
Who
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), French painter.
Coastal association
The coast of Brittany in western France, specifically in and around Pont Aven.
First coastal visit
Around 1885. Though note that this is just the date of Gauguin's first visit to Brittany. He actually had a lifelong association with the sea, having been born and raised in Peru, and spending time as a sailor on a merchant ship when young. And then, of course, spending his last years on an island in the South Pacific.
Reasons for visiting
From an 1888 letter: "I love Brittany. I find a certain wildness and primitiveness here. When my clogs resound on this granite soil, I hear the dull, matt, powerful tone I seek in my painting."
Dates visited
1885 to 1895.
Effect on Work
In reality, Gauguin rarely painted the sea, which is surprising considering how much time in his life he spent near it or on it. In his Pont Aven paintings, the nearby Atlantic is most often just a background to the shapes and colours of the landscape. The main effects of his time in Brittany were to move his art away from the techniques of Impressionism toward compositions that used flat space and bold shapes. This accorded with his developing ideas about getting in touch with "the primitive," a notion which seems patronising to us now, but which Gauguin (along with many of the artists of the Pont Aven school) believed they could absorb from close contact with the local peasantry.
Sea Rating
6 out of 10.
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| Paul Gaugun, The Harvest, 1890 |
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), French painter.
Coastal association
The coast of Brittany in western France, specifically in and around Pont Aven.
First coastal visit
Around 1885. Though note that this is just the date of Gauguin's first visit to Brittany. He actually had a lifelong association with the sea, having been born and raised in Peru, and spending time as a sailor on a merchant ship when young. And then, of course, spending his last years on an island in the South Pacific.
Reasons for visiting
From an 1888 letter: "I love Brittany. I find a certain wildness and primitiveness here. When my clogs resound on this granite soil, I hear the dull, matt, powerful tone I seek in my painting."
Dates visited
1885 to 1895.
Effect on Work
In reality, Gauguin rarely painted the sea, which is surprising considering how much time in his life he spent near it or on it. In his Pont Aven paintings, the nearby Atlantic is most often just a background to the shapes and colours of the landscape. The main effects of his time in Brittany were to move his art away from the techniques of Impressionism toward compositions that used flat space and bold shapes. This accorded with his developing ideas about getting in touch with "the primitive," a notion which seems patronising to us now, but which Gauguin (along with many of the artists of the Pont Aven school) believed they could absorb from close contact with the local peasantry.
Sea Rating
6 out of 10.