Bretons in the Forest of Huelgoat

Paul Sérusier

Oil on canvas

Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields

A gathering of Breton women and children pause together beneath a forest canopy rendered in bold, non-naturalistic patches of crimson, ochre, and olive green. Sérusier, a founding member of the Nabis group and disciple of Gauguin's Synthetist principles, flattens the scene into decorative zones of color bound by dark contour lines, prioritizing symbolic harmony over realistic depth. The traditional lace coiffes and aprons root the painting in Breton folk culture, a subject Sérusier returned to throughout his career at Pont-Aven. This is a striking example of early modernist painting, where everyday rural life becomes a vehicle for bold formal experimentation.