National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Breton Girls Dancing, Pont-Aven
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

No overview.

Inscription

lower right: P. Gauguin 88-

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Acquired from the artist in November 1888 by (Boussod, Valadon et Cie., Paris and New York); sold 16 September 1889 to Montaudon.[1] (Ambroise Vollard [1867-1939], Paris), by 1922 until at least 1936.[2] Possibly (Etienne Bignou, Paris).[3] William A. Cargill [d. 1962], Carruth, Scotland, by 1956;[4] (his estate sale, Sotheby's, London, 11 June 1963, no. 29); purchased for £75,000/$210,000 by Acciarri for (Hector Brame, Paris) for Paul Mellon, Upperville, [5] VA; gift 1983 to NGA.

[1] According to La Ronde des petites Bretonnes, exh. cat., Musée des beaux arts, Rennes, 1997, p. 6.

[2] Listed in the Vollard inventory of 1 January 1922, as 'Danse bretonne 72 x 92 10000,' Archives Vollard, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Lent by Vollard to exhibitions in Paris and New York in 1936.

[3] A photograph of this painting is included in the albums from the Bignou Gallery, now at the documentation center of the Musée d'Orsay (copy, NGA curatorial files).

[4] According to John Rewald, Post-Impressionism from van Gogh to Gauguin, 1956, p. 289, the painting was in a private collection in Scotland at that time; this is probably Cargill.

[5] Annotated sales catalogue in the library of the National Gallery of Scotland; Acciarri also listed in Paul Mellon papers in NGA curatorial files.

Exhibition History

1888
Boussod et Valadon, November 1888.
1889
Café Volpini, Paris, 1889, no. 36.
1911
Possibly Gauguin and Cezanne, Stafford Gallery, London, November 1911, no. 17.
1936
La vie ardente de Paul Gauguin, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1936, no. 29
1936
Paul Gauguin, 1848-1903. A Retrospective Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of Les Amis de Paul Gauguin and The Penn Normal Industrial and Agricultural School. Wildenstein & Co., New York, 20 March - 18 April 1936, no. 8
1966
French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 124, repro
1986
Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986, unnumbered checklist, repro.
1986
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, and State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1986
1988
The Art of Paul Gauguin, National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Art Institute of Chicago; Grand Palais, Paris, 1988-1989, no. 44, repro.
1988
The Pastoral Landscape: The Modern Vision, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1988-1989, no. 118, fig. 217.
1989
Impressionisti della National Gallery of Art di Washington, Ala Napoleonica e Museo Correr, Venice, and Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 67, repro.
1992
From El Greco to Cezanne: Masterpieces of European Painting from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metroplitan Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Greece, Athens, 1992-1993, no. 66, repro.
1993
Van Gogh: His Sources, Genius and Influence, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1993-1994, no. 24, repro.
1994
Gauguin and the School of Pont-Aven, The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1994-1995, addendum to the catalogue (exhibition had four other venues).
1996
La Ronde des petites Bretonnes: Une évocation de l'art de Pont-Aven autour du chef-d'oeuvre de Washington, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes, 1996-1997, unnumbered, repro.
1999
An Enduring Legacy: Masterpieces from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1999-2000, no cat.
2000
Paul Gauguin: Von der Bretagne nach Tahiti. Ein Aufbruch zur Moderne, Steiermärkisches Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria, 2000, no. 19, repro.
2001
Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South, The Art Institute of Chicago; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2001-2002, no. 28, repro.
2004
Gauguin and the Origins of Symbolism, Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2004-2005, no. 31, repro. (part of the exhibition, including NGA's Vuillard, The Yellow Curtain, shown consecutively at Casa de Alhajas, Madrid).
2005
Gauguin's Vision, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, 2005, pl. 64.
2009
Paul Gauguin: Paris, 1889, The Cleveland Museum of Art; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam [under the title: Paul Gauguin: The Breakthrough into Modernity], 2009-2010, no. 36, repro.
2010
Gauguin: Maker of Myth, Tate, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2010-2011, no. 48, repro. (shown only in London).
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 18, repro.

Bibliography

1925
Rotonchamp, Jean. Paul Gauguin 1848-1903. Paris, 1925:64-66
1936
Cogniat, Raymond. La Vie Ardente de Paul Gauguin. Paris, 1936:38-39
1944
Wilenski, R.H. Modern French Painters. London, 1944: 98.
1948
Malingue, Maurice. Gauguin: Le peintre et son oeuvre. Paris, 1948: repro.
1956
Rewald, John. Post-Impressionism from van Gogh to Gauguin. New York, 1956, p. 289, repro.
1963
Boudaille, Georges. Gauguin. Paris, 1963: repro. p. 68.
1964
Wildenstein, Georges. Gauguin. Paris, 1964: no. 251.
1973
Rewald, John. "Theo van Gogh, Goupil, and the Impressionists."Gazette des Beaux-Arts 1248 (January 1973):32-33.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 522, no. 783, color repro.
1985
House, John. Impressionist Masterpieces. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1985:106.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 171, repro.
1989
Solomon-Godeau, Abigail. "Going Native," Art in America 77, no. 7 (July 1989):repro. 121.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 67, repro.
1991
Buisson, Sylvie. Danse et Danseurs en peinture. Paris, 1991:45, repro.
1991
Coman, Florence E. Joi de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 24, repro.
1992
Denvir, Bernard, ed. Paul Gauguin: The Search for Paradise: Letters from Britanny and the South Seas. New York, c. 1992:22, 43, repro.
1993
Christensen, Carol. "The Painting Materials and Technique of Paul Gauguin." Studies in the History of Art 41 (1993): 86, repro. no. 17.
1993
Thomson, Belinda, ed. Gauguin by Himself. New York, 1993: no. 87, repro.
1997
Bücherwurm, Mein Lesebuch. 3 (1997): 125, repro.
1999
Stolwijk, Christ and Richard Thomson. Theo van Gogh: Art dealer, collector and brother of Vincent. Zwolle, 1999:139, repro.
2000
Silverman, Debora. Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Search for Sacred Art. New York, 1000: 96, repro.
2001
Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA II: Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, 2001: 18-19, 207, color repro.
2001
Wildenstein, Daniel. Gauguin: Premier itinéraire d'un sauvage. Catalogue de l'oeuvre peint (1873-1888). 2 vols. Paris, 2001: II:no. 296, repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 376, no. 308, color repro.
2005
Thomson, Belinda. Vision of the Sermon: the story behind the painting. Edinburgh, 2005: 23-24, repro.

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