Farm in Brittany I

Gauguin's 'Farm in Brittany I' (1886) is the companion to his second farm study of the same year — twin investigations of the Breton farmstead subject from his first extended Pont-Aven stay. Together these two farm paintings document his approach to a complex rural subject, and their relationship reveals his method of approaching the same environment from different compositional perspectives or at different times of day. His farm subjects from this period show his careful observation of the specific architectural and agricultural character of Breton rural life.

The first Brittany farm composition likely presents the farmstead from a different viewpoint or in different light conditions from its companion — Gauguin's two-part investigation allowing comparison of compositional choices. His handling shows the transitional quality of his 1886 Breton work: more deliberate than Impressionist observation but not yet fully Synthetist in its formal boldness. The farm's specific elements are rendered with the direct observation he brought to all his Breton subjects.