Shop art print and framed art Breton Girls Dancing, Pont-Aven by Paul Gauguin

The Four Breton Women or The Dance of Four Breton Women is a painting by Paul Gauguin, painted in 1886. It belongs to the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen (Bavarian State Paintings Collection) and is on deposit at the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. It is known as no. 201 in Wildenstein's 1964 catalogue, and no. 237 in Daniel Wildenstein's 2001 catalogue (W.201/W.237). The work shows four peasant women in traditional dress and typical Pont-Aven hairstyles conversing near a fence, three of them in the foreground and the fourth behind the fence. In the background, a man is ploughing the land and geese are grazing around him. The arrangement of the four women is striking, reminiscent of Degas's dancers. Originally called Les Bretonnes, the painting was included in Wildenstein's catalogue under the title Dance of Four Breton Women. But the interpretation of a dance has been the subject of much debate. It is only possible if the undefined space between the women is seen as the ground rather than a barrier. The only attitude of movement may be suggested by the woman on the right, but she can also be seen as half crouching, with her right arm resting on the fence and her left hand gripping the heel of her hoof. In the revised edition of the catalogue by Daniel Wildenstein (2001), the title is replaced by Bretonnes causante (Breton women chattering). Confusion with a dance has often led to this painting being confused with La Ronde des Petits Bretonnes (1888). In the lower left-hand [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the post-impressionism style.

 

« Breton Girls Dancing, Pont-Aven » is kept at National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA.

 

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