Bathers in Brittany, from the Volpini Suite: Dessins lithographiques

Art Historical Context

### Bathers in Brittany, from the Volpini Suite Step into the sun-dappled world of Paul Gauguin's *Bathers in Brittany* (1889), a captivating zincograph from his rare *Volpini Suite: Dessins lithographiques*. Created during Gauguin's time in rural Brittany, France, this intimate print (9 3/16 x 7 7/8 in.) captures women bathing by the sea, evoking a sense of timeless harmony with nature. Printed on vibrant chrome yellow wove paper in its first edition, it reflects the artist's growing fascination with bold, symbolic imagery amid the Pont-Aven Symbolist circle. Gauguin, a pioneer of Post-Impressionism and Synthetism, used the zincograph technique—a lithographic process on zinc plates—to achieve rich, painterly tones and textures uncommon in traditional printmaking. This allowed him to simplify forms, flatten space, and infuse the female nudes with an almost mythical presence, blending everyday rural life with exotic reverie. The *Volpini Suite*, produced for a groundbreaking 1889 exhibition at Paris's Café Volpini, showcased Gauguin's innovative graphics alongside works by Émile Bernard and others, challenging academic norms. Acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art via the Rogers Fund in 1922, this print highlights Gauguin's early experiments in color lithography, foreshadowing his later Tahitian masterpieces. A window into 19th-century avant-garde rebellion, it invites us to ponder the sensual freedom of bathers against Brittany's rugged coast.

About the Artist

Paul Gauguin · 1848–1903

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose bold experiments with color, form, and subject matter made him one of the most influential figures in the transition from 19th-century art to modernism. His rejection of European civilization for the perceived authenticity of 'primitive' cultures established an archetype of artistic exile that continues to resonate. Gauguin's ...