Magnet Gauguin - Breton Peasant Women

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
Breton Peasant Women 1894 - Oil on canvas H. 66; W. 92.5 cm

Back in Pont Aven between two trips to Tahiti, Gauguin enjoyed working on the naïve, rural subjects which had inspired him before he left for the Pacific. But his experience of Polynesia shows through in his paintings...

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
Breton Peasant Women 1894 - Oil on canvas H. 66; W. 92.5 cm

Back in Pont Aven between two trips to Tahiti, Gauguin enjoyed working on the naïve, rural subjects which had inspired him before he left for the Pacific. But his experience of Polynesia shows through in his paintings of Brittany. His figures take on a monumental dimension. Their sturdy outlines suggest the fullness of the Oceanic nudes, from whom they have borrowed a few morphological features such as their massive hands and feet or prominent cheekbones.
Fringing this picture of two Breton women chatting in a field of harvested wheat there is a lively landscape. A man bent double is busy working the soil. Behind him, two women are walking past. Farm buildings, surrounded by tall trees, hem in the horizon.