The Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay
Exhibition themes: Pont-Aven
A major characteristic of avant-garde French painting of the 1880s and 1890s was the deep interest the artists took in Brittany, a province of France jutting into the Atlantic ocean in the north-western part of the country. The ancient culture of Brittany was Celtic. The inhabitants here had by and large retained their own language, and remained deeply religious. The ruggedly beautiful landscape of this region, and the simple life of the local paysans or 'peasants', many of whom continued to wear their highly distinctive, traditional costumes, provided rich subject matter for painters.
The village of Pont-Aven, in the south-western part of the Breton peninsula, was a favourite destination for artists of many nationalities, especially for art students seeking a cheap place to live during the summer holidays. In the summer of 1886, Émile Bernard, a pupil at the Académie Cormon in Paris, found his way to Pont-Aven, where he encountered Paul Gauguin, who had established himself at Pont-Aven in the same year. It was at this time that a radical transformation of Impressionism took place, with Bernard and Gauguin developing their new Synthetist style, where form and colour for their own sakes came to have a value independent of traditional narrative. Prior to this, Paul Gauguin had moved within the Impressionist circle, and was particularly close to Camille Pissarro, whose style he reflected. It should be remembered that in 1886 Paul Gauguin contributed nineteen paintings to the eighth and last Impressionist exhibition.
What art historians have termed 'the Pont-Aven School' was never a formal academy and never had any existence as a considered grouping of artists. Rather, it was an informal association of like-minded artists who, from the mid 1880s at least until the mid 1890s, were deeply influenced by the new Synthetist style of Émile Bernard and particularly Paul Gauguin, and who constantly returned to Pont-Aven and other Breton villages for inspiration.
