Gaugain and the school of Pont-Aven

Paul Gauguin arrived in Pont-Aven in 1886 on the advice of a friend and painter. After having worked as a sailor and as a foreign exchange broker, this father with a family decided to try to make a living out of his passion: painting. Gauguin first came to Pont-Aven for economical reasons. Marie Jeanne Gloanec, the owner of the Pension Gloanec, used to offer payment facilities to the painters. He discovered Pont-Aven in the spring of 1886. The same year, Paul Gauguin along with his friend Charles Laval left Europe for Panama and Martinique, looking for adventure and exoticism. His second trip to Pont-Aven took place in 1888 and marked some decisive meetings with new young artists. He first met Emile Bernard, who was 20 years younger than him. He was a young man full of knowledge, skill and will to see his ideas come through. They completed each other as Paul Gauguin had a strong personality forged by his experience of life. Their respective career would probably have been different if they hadn’t met. This is when the School of Pont-Aven appeared: with this group of artists willing to change things, who shared ideas and were looking for new techniques.