Paul Gauguin

Schuffenecker Collection, Paris
Private Collection, Paris
Wildenstein & Co., New York
Acquired from the above in 1977

(probably) Paris, Galerie Nunes et Fiquet, Exposition Paul Gauguin, 1917, no. 32
(probably) Paris, Galerie L. Dru, Exposition retrospective de P. Gauguin, 1923, no. 62

Album Schuffenecker, Cabinet des Dessins, Musée du Louvre, illustrated
Michel Puy, "Paul Gauguin," in L'Art Decoratif, April 1911, illustrated p. 188
Charles Morice, Paul Gauguin, Paris, 1919, illustrated p. 18
Christopher Gray, Sculpture and Ceramics of Paul Gauguin, Baltimore, 1963, no. 82, illustrated p. 201

Very good original condition. Tip of the left shoe has been visibly repaired. Minor wear to the tip of the right shoe. Undersides of shoes are scored from original soles. A few markings in red on the underside of each shoe. Minor surface dirt in crevices of carved portions which are otherwise in excellent condition. Minor nicks to edges of shoe openings including one small loss on the edge of the left shoe.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The verdant landscape of Brittany served as inspiration for many artists at the end of the 19th century, but it was Gauguin who made from these sleepy Breton towns some of the most revolutionary works of art. He was unabashedly intrigued by the customs of the Breton people and their harmony with surrounding nature. As he wrote in a letter to his friend Emile Schuffenecker, who later owned the current work, "I love Brittany which I find savage and primitive. When my clogs ring on the the granite ground I hear the dull and powerful sound that I am looking for in painting" (Victor Merles, ed., Correspondence de Paul Gauguin, Paris, 1984, letter 141, p. 172).

Carved by Gauguin in 1890, shortly before his first trip to Tahiti, the current Sabots depict Breton women (right) and geese (left). This subject is a particularly pertinent one for Gauguin and figures in several of his major paintings including Bretonnes causant from 1886 (see fig. 1). According to his letters, Gauguin delighted in wearing the wooden shoes himself and Charles Morice points out that Gauguin "caused a sensation by wearing Breton sabots in Paris" (Christopher Gray, op. cit., p. 200). According to Christopher Gray, there are three pairs of sabots decorated by Gauguin. One of these is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Chester Dale Collection and is currently included in the exhibition Gauguin: Maker of Myth which travelled from the Tate Modern in London to the National Gallery. The third was most recently recorded as in the collection of Ernest Legros, Paris. The medium of woodcarving was vital to Gauguin in his earliest forays into artistic production and would become an important element of his Tahitian works (see Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, May 3, 2011, lot 7).

Fig. 1 Paul Gauguin, Bretonnes causant, 1886, oil on canvas, Neue Pinakothek, Munich