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Lot Essay
The Wildenstein Institute has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
This intense portrait of Paul Gauguin pays homage to one of the most turbulent friendships and fecund artistic alliances of the late nineteenth century. Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin met in Pont-Aven in 1886 and together began their radical research into new forms of painting, aiming at a Synthétisme that was strongly indebted to the fauve chromatic theories and van Gogh's rediscovery of Japonisme. Until 1891, when, after a violent quarrel, they ended their relationship, the two artists shared both long and productive stays in their Brittany haven, and creative endeavours, culminating in the 1889 Parisian exhibition at the Café Volpini. This watercolour dates from 1889, the year of this seminal show, the first of the Pont-Aven group in Paris.
This intense portrait of Paul Gauguin pays homage to one of the most turbulent friendships and fecund artistic alliances of the late nineteenth century. Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin met in Pont-Aven in 1886 and together began their radical research into new forms of painting, aiming at a Synthétisme that was strongly indebted to the fauve chromatic theories and van Gogh's rediscovery of Japonisme. Until 1891, when, after a violent quarrel, they ended their relationship, the two artists shared both long and productive stays in their Brittany haven, and creative endeavours, culminating in the 1889 Parisian exhibition at the Café Volpini. This watercolour dates from 1889, the year of this seminal show, the first of the Pont-Aven group in Paris.