Of Alsatian origin, Schuffenecker trained first with Paul Baudry (1828-1886) and later, in evening courses, with Carolus-Duran (1837-1917) and at the Swiss Academy in Paris. In 1872, through the stockbroker Bertin, he meets Gauguin, with whom he befriends. He was responsible for the historic meeting between Bernard and Gauguin in July 1886 in Pont-Aven, as well as the organization of the first exhibition of the Pont-Aven group at the Volpini café in Paris, in 1889.

This painting represents the wife of the writer Félicien Champsaur, a late 19th century novelist. The portrait exudes a precious atmosphere, Madame Champsaur wears an elegant city dress, embellished with Breton-inspired embroidery. The reference to Rodin's Succubus evokes the female demon whose main attribute is the power of seduction.

© Procolor - Laurent Bruneau

Together with Paul Gauguin, Paul Sérusier is one of the artists who made Pont-Aven famous. It was during a stay in the city of painters that he created this work inspired by a moment of everyday life. The canvas is built starting from an oblique that divides two large areas of color, one cold in the background (bluish tones) and the other warm (ocher tones) with the pigs in the foreground.

The workmanship of this painting is representative of the aesthetics of the Pont-Aven school, which simplifies the line and enhances the color. It should also be noted the audacity of the shot, which divides the upper part of the woman's body, in addition to the leg alone, capturing the foreshortening to signify movement, undoubtedly influenced by the nascent photography and the framing of Japanese prints that begin to circulate in France.

© Procolor - Laurent Bruneau

Of Danish origin, Marie Luplau was part of the Scandinavian colony established in Pont-Aven at the end of the 19th century. Trained in the studio of Peter Vilhelm Kyhn (1819-1903), she completed her training in Paris, at the Académie Colarossi. The artist loves to paint the landscape starting from nature. Starting from sketches taken from life, he paints his canvases in the studio. A few years before Paul Sérusier and Émile Bernard, Marie Luplau represents in this painting the Bois d'Amour and its avenue of beech trees in a realistic way, in the spirit of the Barbizon school, with particular attention to detail.

© Procolor - Laurent Bruneau

In 1856, driven by the desire to broaden his prospects for the future, Van den Anker moved to France. Around 1866 he chose to devote his career exclusively to art. Brittany was gradually becoming his favorite theme. From 1869 he moved to Pont-Aven, where he occupied a room at the Pension Gloanec. When Wylie died in 1877, he set up his studio on the second floor of the Lezaven mansion until 1883.

This composition is faithful to the artist's representations of Breton scenes. It is an interior scene of great realism, with ethnographic value: an in-depth study of the characters, accessories and furnishings, the virtuous rendering of fabrics and materials, the particular care given to the play of light, in the great tradition of the masters Dutch.

© Procolor - Laurent Bruneau

The Portrait of Marie Lagadu corresponds to an early work by Paul Sérusier, made in Pont-Aven in 1889. The artist meets Marie Lagadu in an inn where she works as a maid. Often the inn staff agreed to pose for the painters. Here, the model is shown with a three-quarter bust. The work is of documentary interest as the Breton woman wears the typical Pont-Aven work hat. This work very faithfully reproduces the principles enunciated by Gauguin in the Bois d'Amour.

© Isabelle Guégan

Armand Seguin, along with Gauguin, was one of the pioneers of the Pont-Aven School. He made this work in 1896, in Paris, when his artistic creation was slowing down and his economic income was scarce. He wrote to Roderic O'Conor on March 26, 1896: “[…] I am working a lot right now. Alas, still confused by the memories, by what others have done before me, but all the great masters have had this feeling; what amuses me and interests me most now is the beauty of the nude. Then his body is wonderful, with a great purity of line and a color of the flesh to lick […] ”.

The composition, on a landscape background reminiscent of Manet's Dejeuner sur l'herbe, represents a three-quarter nude of a woman seated on an unrolled fabric in the meadow in the foreground. This painting was acquired by the artist during his lifetime by the influential art critic Arsène Alexandre. The painting was later acquired by Maurice Denis.

© Procolor - Laurent Bruneau

The work was created in 1888, a period marked by a change of style that began in Pont-Aven. Thus we find the main characteristics of this emerging technique such as flatness, the use of bright colors, the high horizon, geometric shapes and the application of paint in large areas. It represents the free view in the center of a field made up of a juxtaposition of wide horizontal bands in shades of yellow and green. This field is bordered by trees and one of them, with a round and simplified crown, stands majestically in the composition. The horizontal character of the work, however, is broken by the verticality of a few trunks. This painting, which belonged to Maurice Denis, is also called L'Arbre roux: the second title given by the Denis family, without any historical reference.

© Bernard Galeron

Here, under cover of the landscape motif, Émile Bernard demonstrates his innovative technique. In this composition, several horizontal planes build the countryside, while a few trees bring verticality. On the initiative of synthetic symbolism, inventor of a vision of reality, the artist subsequently evolved towards a return to classical art.

© Procolor - Laurent Bruneau

This pastel represents two faces of young Bretons wearing a miller's headdress and looking out of the field. They are placed one front, the other in profile. The woman on the right has slightly slanted eyes: it is probably a memory of the master of Pont-Aven, who returned from a two-year stay in Tahiti (from 1891 to 1893). Some art historians specializing in symbolism have seen "the dream and reality" as a farewell to Gauguin in Brittany.

Dedicated to his friend Maxime Maufra with the Maori formula "Aïta Aramoe" which means "not forgotten", the work shows Paul Gauguin's attachment to this artist, who at the time he considered avant-garde.

© Procolor - Laurent Bruneau

This composition represents two young girls dancing around a haystack in the Lollichon field. In the background, the bell tower of the Pont-Aven church is clearly visible. The Bretons wear the traditional costume: the headdress, the Pont-Aven collar and the clogs are distinguished. The work is notable for the fact that a part of the millstone (around which the Bretons dance) and two small dogs are represented outside the line on the left. The Breton rotunda theme has often inspired the artists of the Pont-Aven School.

© Bernard Galéron