GAUGUIN’S BRITTANY THE ARTIST’S HAUNTS

PONT-AVEN PENSION GLOANEC

The boarding house run by Mme Gloanec where Gauguin first lodged is now a newsagent, and the upstairs rooms are used by the Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art. The first floor is open to the public, but Gauguin’s room in the attic is usually occupied by artists and authors in residence.

MUSEE DES BEAUX-ARTS

The town museum was entirely reconstructed and reopened in 2016. It has a small collection, including just a couple of paintings by Gauguin, as well as works by Sérusier, de Haan and Émile Bernard. But it is in the middle of a five-year agreement with Musée d’Orsay in Paris which enables it to borrow other key paintings and hold regular exhibitions (musee pontaven.fr).

THE BOIS D’AMOUR

Plaques showing paintings made by some of the most famous Pont-Aven artists are scattered along the riverside walk.

TREMALO CHAPEL

This isolated 16th-century chapel, a mile’s (1.6km) walk out of town, contains the carved crucifixion that inspired Gauguin’s The Yellow Christ, pictured, of 1889, and a later self-portrait.

LE POULDU

Gauguin came to this little seaside resort, a short drive from Pont-Aven, in 1888 and stayed at a boarding house, La Buvette de la Plage, where he lived with Meijer de Haan, the Dutch painter. Together they decorated the dining room of the inn. The original has not survived, but a replica interior has been created in an identical house next door to the original – it is surprisingly successful (museedupouldu. clohars-carnoet. fr).

GAUGUIN IN LONDON

Gauguin Portraits is at the National Gallery (nationalgallery. org.uk/ exhibitions) from Monday-Jan 26 2020, admission