Jeune bretonne à la faucille is the result of the significant stylistic shift that took place in the late 1880s and early 1890s when Sérusier’s aesthetic became intimately and intrinsically tied to that of Paul Gauguin. Recognized today as a leader of French modernism for his bold experimentations with color, Gauguin first became known to Sérusier in 1888. The two artists would work closely together that year and throughout the summer and fall of 1889 along the coast of Brittany.
Isolated on the western tip of France, the small Breton towns of Pont-Aven and Le Pouldu were virtually untouched by the effects of the rampant industrialization that took hold in many French cities at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Unique for the distinctive cultures and traditions of the local people, their timeless way of life and the raw nature of the landscape, these small towns offered a dramatic contrast to the French capital and were highly romanticized upon their rediscovery. The rich visual material provided by the unspoiled scenery and daily activities of the local peasants would come to preoccupy Sérusier, Gauguin, Bernard and the other painters known collectively as the Pont-Aven School. Captivated by the simplicity and rustic beauty of this region, Sérusier’s depictions of the local population remain some of his most engaging works.
Center: Émile Bernard, Bretonnes ramassant des pommes, 1889, oil on canvas, sold: Sotheby’s, New York, May 15, 2019, lot 143 for $ 1,940,000
Right: Paul Gauguin, La Ronde des petites Bretonnes, 1888, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Painted the year following Sérusier’s initial involvement with Gauguin, Jeune bretonne à la faucille combines the striking palette and bright colorization that were part of a bold artistic vision derived from the influence of Gauguin, with a modern compositional structure that owed much to Japanese printmaking, particularly the work of Utagawa Hiroshige. The decorative treatment of the landscape and the flattening of perspectival space are visible in the present work, where Sérusier has matched a vertiginous view typical of his Breton landscape paintings with a plunging perspective derived from Japanese prints. Sérusier depicts the figure in her traditional dress to the foreground, allowing him to capture the rich color and atmosphere of her environment throughout the background. This dynamic landscape captures the essential character of the rugged landscape setting of Le Pouldu and its inhabitants on the edge of the sea.