Its reputation promoted by Gauguin and Émile Bernard, the artist’s colony was in the avant garde with Paul Sérusier and remained popular into the 20th century.
Pont-Aven
This artist’s colony developed in the 1860s, and soon became popular with Americans studying in Paris. It attained fame with Paul Gauguin, who first visited in 1886.
One of the paintings he made in 1888 is quite unlike any other that he made in his career: The Talisman, which became an icon for the Nabis. Is it abstract?
After fleeing from Poland to Paris, he became a student of Paul Gauguin at Pont-Aven in 1889, and moved to Le Pouldu in 1894. He died 100 years ago.
Seaweed is one of the few ‘crops’ confined to the coast. Its harvesting and processing, performed almost exclusively by women, has been shown in paintings of Brittany, particularly by Gauguin and his circle.
A selection of paintings by other artists who painted there after 1886. Includes Laval, Moret, O’Conor, Sérusier, and of course Vincent van Gogh.
From 1886, the colony at Pont-Aven was dominated by the struggling former stockbroker Paul Gauguin. Among his friends was Émile Bernard. Here are some of the works from that period.
For the latter half of the 19th century, Pont-Aven in Brittany was one of the leading centres for painting in France. Here’s its history, from Weber and Wylie to PS Krøyer and Julian Alden Weir.
The Eclectic Light Company 