The Field of Derout-Lollichon

Painted in 1886 at Pont-Aven in Brittany, this view of the Derout-Lollichon farm field is a characteristic Breton landscape of the early Pont-Aven period. Gauguin had begun visiting Pont-Aven in 1886, finding in its rural character and ancient Catholic traditions an antidote to Parisian modernity. The fields around Pont-Aven were recurring subjects, rendered with the progressive simplification that would culminate in his bold Synthetist style. Now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, this canvas occupies a transitional position between the Impressionist naturalism of his early career and the decisive formal boldness he would achieve by 1888.

The field is painted with loose, varied brushwork recording the light on ripening crops and meadow grasses. The palette is fresh and green-dominated, with bright yellows suggesting sunshine. At this stage Gauguin's Breton work is still primarily Impressionist in approach, with greater attention to light effects and atmospheric tone than to the bold colour simplification of his later Pont-Aven work.