Four Studies of Breton Women; Shapes and Vases [verso]
1884-1888
![Four Studies of Breton Women; Shapes and Vases [verso] by Paul Gauguin](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/four-studies-of-breton-women-shapes-and-vases-nga-74258.webp)
Medium
graphite and crayon on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 16.9 x 22.8 cm (6 5/8 x 9 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
The Armand Hammer Collection
Accession Number
1991.217.61.b
Art Historical Context
In the mid-1880s, Paul Gauguin, a pioneering Post-Impressionist, sought inspiration beyond Paris's urban bustle, turning to the rugged landscapes and traditional life of Brittany, France. Created between 1884 and 1888, *Four Studies of Breton Women; Shapes and Vases [verso]* captures this pivotal phase. The recto features four sensitive graphite and crayon sketches of Breton women in their distinctive regional costumes—headdresses and layered skirts—reflecting Gauguin's fascination with rural folk culture and its symbolic purity, a theme that would evolve into his later Primitivist works in Ta...
About the Artist
Paul Gauguin · 1848–1903
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose bold experiments with color, form, and subject matter made him one of the most influential figures in the transition from 19th-century art to modernism. His rejection of European civilization for the perceived authenticity of 'primitive' cultures established an archetype of artistic exile that continues to resonate. Gauguin's ...