Vase with Nasturtiums and Quimper Faience

Painted in 1886 during one of Gauguin's first visits to Pont-Aven, this still life of flowers in a vase includes a piece of Quimper faience — the distinctive blue-and-white earthenware from western Brittany — as a cultural marker of the region. By including locally made ceramics, Gauguin grounds his still life in the specific cultural identity of Brittany. The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa holds this canvas, which shows Gauguin using the still-life genre as a vehicle for cultural observation alongside his landscapes and figure studies of Breton life.

The Quimper faience vase provides a decorative, patterned element that adds cultural specificity to the composition. The nasturtiums are painted with confident colour — the vivid oranges and yellows that Gauguin was beginning to use with greater chromatic boldness. The background is relatively neutral, directing attention to the flowers and the distinctive regional ceramics of the vase.