保羅·高更

Emile Bernard, France (a gift from the artist)

Private Collection, France

Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 1980

Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Un siècle d'aquarelle, 1942

Aoste, Musée Régional d'Histoire et d'Archéologie, Ancien Couvent Saint-Benin & Centre de Saint-Benin, Gauguin et ses amis peintres en Bretagne, 1993, illustrated in the catalogue

Mexico, Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Gauguin et l'Ecole de Pont-Aven, 1995-96, no. 22, illustrated in the catalogue

Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Gauguin und die Schule de Pont-Aven, 1998, no. 5, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Musée du Luxembourg & Quimper, Musée des Beaux-Arts, L'Aventure de Pont-Aven et Gauguin, 2003, no. 9, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

André Cariou, Les peintres de Pont-Aven, Rennes, 1994, illustrated p. 48 and on the cover

Ingo Walther, Gauguin - A Restless and Visionary Genius - His Life and Paintings, Cologne, 2000, illustrated p. 35

'Pont-Aven et Gauguin', in L'Express, Connaissance des Arts, 2003, illustrated pp. 18-19

'Gauguin', in Le Spectacle du Monde, no. 12, Paris, 2003, illustrated on the cover

'L'Aventure Gauguin et Pont-Aven', in Paris Match, Paris, 2003

Gauguin's Vision (exhibition catalogue), National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2005, pl. 25, illustrated in colour p. 32

Gauguin - Maker of Myth (exhibition catalogue), Tate Modern, London, 2010, no. 44, illustrated in colour p. 114

Executed on cream wove paper, laid down on a sheet of thin Japan paper, which is hinged to the overmount along the top edge, floating in the mount. There are artist's pinholes in the top and bottom right corners and glue remnants along the reverse of the edges, from previous mounting. The upper right and lower left corners have been replaced. Apart from two small supported tears at the top edge and one small supported tear at the middle of the left edge, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although overall slightly less yellow and richer in the original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Depicting a profile of a woman clad in a typical Breton costume and seen against a backdrop of a landscape, this work is a study for the figure on the left of the composition Bretonnes causant (fig. 1) painted in the same year, one of the most important canvases inspired by Gauguin’s first visit to Pont-Aven. Gauguin stayed in Pont-Aven in Brittany from July to October 1886, and executed individual studies of the female figures from direct observation; the final canvas was completed later in his studio. The subject of this work is possibly a woman known only by her first name, Louise, one of the maids who worked at the guesthouse Gloanec where Gauguin stayed.  

 

The artist first travelled to Pont-Aven following his desire to leave Paris in pursuit of unspoilt scenery and a simple way of life away from the metropolis. For Gauguin and a number of his contemporaries, the appeal of this part of France, virtually untouched by the effects of progress, was in the raw originality of its landscape and the traditional way of life of its inhabitants. In a letter to his friend Schuffenecker, Gauguin wrote: ‘I love Brittany which I find savage and primitive. When my clogs ring on the granite ground I hear the dull and powerful sound that I am looking for in painting’ (quoted in Victor Merlès (ed.), Correspondence de Paul Gauguin, Paris, 1984, letter 141, p. 172).