Paul Gauguin

In October 1889, Gauguin and his artist friends Jacob Meyer de Haan and Charles Filiger went to stay in le Pouldu, Brittany, in search of quiet and solitude in which to paint. They moved into the Hôtel de la Plage, owned by Marie Henry, and settled there to paint for over a year. In this setting, Gauguin found the peace he had been looking for, and executed a large number of paintings depicting the people and wild coastal surroundings. In addition, Gauguin and Meyer de Haan filled Marie Henry's boarding house with paintings and frescoes covering the walls of the main rooms.

In November 1890, Gauguin's debts to Marie Henry amounted to 300 Francs. As he could not pay, he left his paintings as collateral before leaving for Paris and then Tahiti. Eventually, the frescoes in the hotel were covered up with wallpaper (only rediscovered in 1924), and the paintings dispersed amongst Marie's family. Maurice Malingue discusses these 'lost' Gauguin's, which includes a mention of the present work, in his article in L'Œil: 'Que sont devenues ces œuvres bretonnes de Gauguin, gardées par Marie Henry en règlement de sa dette, et qu'elle avait vendues préférant, de ce fait, ne jamais en parler, ni montrer les photographies! Quelques-unes avaient été achetées par Ambroise Vollard, d'autres, y compris le Bonjour Monsieur Gauguins [sic], par les Galeries Barbazanges en 1919. Mais presque toutes ont disparu sans laisser de traces. Souhaitons qu'elles réapparaissent dans un avenir plus au moins lointain, dissipant le mystère qui les recouvre' (M. Malingue, 'Du Nouveau sur Gauguin', op. cit., 1959, p. 39).

Gauguin's landscapes of this period are characterised by the strongly defined forms and flat areas of colour of his Synthetist style. The present work is built up of bright green, orange and blue plains that recede into the distance to create a vibrant image characteristic of Gauguin's work at this time.