PAUL GAUGUIN | Bretonne de trois-quarts à gauche

Émile Bernard, Paris
Héloïse Henriette Bodin Bernard, Paris (a gift from the above by 1893)
Ambroise Vollard, Paris (acquired by 1904)
Alex Maguy, Paris
Walco, Ltd., Geneva
Acquired from the above by the present owners in February 2002

Daniel Wildenstein, Gauguin, Premier itinéraire d'un sauvage, Catalogue de l'œuvre peint (1873-1888), Paris, 2001, vol. II, n.n., illustrated p. 301

Executed on blue-coloured laid paper, not laid down and attached to the window mount at eight places along the edges. The left and right edges of the sheet are deckled. There is some minor scattered staining, particularly to the lower right quadrant and a couple spots of staining to the woman's arm. The medium appears well-preserved. The work is in overall good condition.
"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."

Paul Gauguin arrived in Pont-Aven for the first time in June of 1886 and would return to Paris just four months later. Although brief, Gauguin’s summer stay in this Breton village would prove transformative for his work. The painter’s initial reasons for leaving the city however were as much economic as they were artistic. The previous year had been a period of extreme penury and financial strain. With only days left at his accommodation at 10 rue Cail in Paris, a last-minute loan from the Stock Exchange allowed Gauguin to relocate to Brittany. As he wrote to his wife Mette just one month after arriving, 'I live on credit here… It’s a pity that we did not settle in Brittany before… Here you can find a place for 800 F a month with a stable, an atelier and a garden. I am sure that with 300 F per month, a family could live very happily' (Paul Gauguin quoted in André Cariou, 'Gauguin and the Pont-Aven School,' in Paul Gauguin, Artist of Myth and Dream (exhibition catalogue), Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, 2007-08, p. 50). Gauguin settled at the Pension Gloanec, the residence of choice for the Impressionists, and soon began painting images of the local peasants and their picturesque costumes.

The works produced during this initial stay in Pont-Aven would marry unique Breton subjects with Impressionism and japonisme. The present work is a study for a figure in Bretonnes causant, a masterpiece depicting four Breton women chatting over the low dividing wall of a field (fig. 1). When viewed in concert with the painting, Bretonne de trois-quarts à gauche reveals Gauguin’s deep interest in the work of Japanese woodblock printers, known as ukiyo-e. The steep perspective, narrowed field of vision and the decorative nature of the picture plane all attest to this influence. At this time Gauguin also began to shift away from the teachings of his mentor Pissarro toward the work of Edgar Degas. The raised perspective and dynamic pose of the drawing’s central figure are strongly reminiscent of Degas’ ballerinas, much to the chagrin of Pissarro and his newfound predilection for Pointillism. Writing to his son Lucien, Pissarro stated, 'Gauguin is very friendly with Degas again and goes to see him often. Curious, isn’t it, this see-saw of interests!' (quoted in Judy Le Paul, Gauguin and the Impressionists at Pont-Aven, New York, 1987, p. 82).

In the final months of his stay at Pont-Aven, Gauguin was sought out by an artist who would have a pivotal effect on his work. At only 18 years old, Émile Bernard was 20 years Gauguin’s junior when they connected  during a walking tour of Brittany. Intent on learning all that he could, Bernard would stay for two months despite Gauguin’s chilly reception. The two would soon become the most innovative painters of the Pont-Aven School, working together for several years in the eponymous town neighboring Le Pouldu. The present work belonged to Bernard, who would later gift it to his mother upon leaving for travels in Egypt, Spain and Italy in 1893.