Gauguin and the Invention of Synthetism

Paul Gauguin stayed in Pont-Aven five times: in 1886, 1888, 1889, 1890, and finally in 1894 before he left permanently for Tahiti.

Gauguin drew the faces of two Breton women wearing a work cap, evoking his life in Pont-Aven, in addition to revealing his attraction to the exoticism of the islands, which can be seen in the physiognomy of one of the faces. 

Before his departure, he gave this work in pastels to his friend Maxime Maufra. It was dedicated "to my friend Maufra, the avant-garde artist aita aramoe" (the latter phrase meaning "not forgotten" in Tahitian). 

The term "Synthétisme" comes from the French verb synthétiser and is based on the idea that art should be a synthesis of three characteristics:

the outward appearance of natural forms, the artist's feelings about their subject, and purely aesthetic considerations of line, color, and form.

This painting conceals a mystery: when was it painted? around 1894? Circa 1898-1899?

In the distance, factory chimneys and urbanization depict the technical progress and industrialization of the late 19th century.

The church spire stands proudly in the center of a brown and white winter composition.

 Purchased by Victor Segalen in Papeete, at the time of the sale of the artist's possessions following his death in 1903, this work remained close to Gauguin until the end of his life as a souvenir of the works he produced during his stays in Pont-Aven. 

If the painting Village in the Snow was indeed painted around 1898–1899, this fits in with the time, as there is a Christmas-themed engraving, The Oxcart, preserved by the Pont-Aven Museum.

One can see the thatched cottage roofs covered in snow again. 

 A transfigured relic of his stays in Brittany, this wood carving is part of the Suite Vollard.

Gauguin's last stay in Brittany provided an opportunity for the master of Pont-Aven, with his loyal friend Armand Seguin, to try his hand at printing. 

The watercolor monotype Love One Another belongs to this series of print drawings that Gauguin defined as being "along the lines of a Japanese watercolor print."

In an audacious way, Gauguin pushed his mystical syncretism to the extreme by linking Christ on the cross to a Polynesian tiki, accompanied by a copious nomenclature of Oceanian mythological symbols. 

A shrouded Jesus is crucified on a kind of monolithic totem representing a tiki, elaborately decorated with a range of primitive hieroglyphs.

In the spring of 1894, Gauguin applied Seguin's expertise in etching on zinc to create Woman with Figs. 

The printing was entrusted to Eugène Delâtre, who said, "Only Mr. Seguin [sic] knew a little about how to 'cook' an etching. (...)

(...) So he varnished and polished off an engraving by Mr. Gauguin." It is not out of the question that Seguin himself participated.

In this composition, several horizontal planes depict the countryside, with trees adding vertical elements to the work.

Here, Émile Bernard shows the innovative technique he used to create a landscape.

Alongside Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard was the inventor of Synthetism, which he first tried in his painting Bretonnes dans la Prairie Verte (Breton Women in the Green Meadow). This is kept at the Musée d'Orsay and is dated 1888.

The artist started out in the Synthetic Symbolism style, creating a new vision of reality, and later evolved back toward more classical art.

Émile Bernard was 20 years old when he created this sketch, which is so synthetist that it sums up the aesthetic of Pont-Aven. 

Having arrived in Pont-Aven in August 1888, Bernard stayed there until November, working alongside Gauguin. 

This canvas depicts a family scene, which the artist was fond of, painted during a vacation at the Portier guest house in Pouldu in 1899.

At the center, we can see his wife Marthe and their youngest child, Bernadette, surrounded by Éva—Marthe's sister—and Noële, their eldest daughter.

The tones of the piece create a soft and warm ambiance for the composition.

This impression is accentuated by contrast with the open window in the background, which offers a stunning view over the sea at nightfall, in cool-toned colors.

Slewinski, a Polish follower of Gauguin, lived in Pont-Aven, in Pouldu, then in Doëlan between 1889 and 1916.

It is a still life in the style of Paul Gauguin, whose influence is seen here.

The shaded contours of a firm stroke, pure and flat-toned colors, the lofty perspective, and the simplified shapes wonderfully evoke the style of Pont-Aven, to which this work, dedicated to Marie Schewtzoff, is connected.