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