A rare wooden panel painted by Paul Gauguin in 1889, titled "Danse Bretonne" (Breton Dance), will be offered at auction in Paris on December 9, marking the first time the artwork has been publicly displayed in over 40 years. The oil-on-wood panel, measuring approximately 8 inches in height by 33 inches in length, represents a significant piece from Gauguin's influential Breton period.
The elongated panel originally formed part of the decorative scheme that Gauguin created alongside his artist friends Charles Filiger and Meyer de Haan for the dining room of La Buvette de la Plage, a small inn run by Marie Henry in Le Pouldu, near Pont-Aven in Finistère, Brittany. Historical photographs from the Association of Friends of the Marie Henry House show the panel was installed above the fireplace mantel as part of an elaborate artistic ensemble.
According to Bruno Jaubert, Director of the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Artcurial, the auction house handling the sale, most of the panels from this famous dining room decoration now reside in major public institutions across the United States and Europe. "This small panel remained in private hands," Jaubert explained, noting its unique status among the surviving works from this important artistic collaboration.
The painting's provenance reveals a complex history spanning more than a century. Marie Henry sold the panel along with the other decorative elements between 1919 and 1920. The work was exhibited in Paris in 1919 and in New York in 1920, then passed through several collectors before being sold at auction in Paris during the 1930s. It subsequently entered a well-known private modern art collection until 1963, with a notable exhibition at Pont-Aven's town hall in August and September 1961.
A significant controversy arose in 1981 when two art historians questioned Gauguin's authorship of the panel. The work was even exhibited in New York in 1983 as being by Paul Sérusier, a attribution that appeared in several publications. However, extensive research conducted by the Paul Gauguin Committee, which oversees attribution of works to the artist, definitively confirmed Gauguin's authorship in the 2020s. "After thorough research into the history, aesthetics, and provenance, the reattribution to Paul Gauguin has been definitively confirmed," Jaubert detailed.
The panel represents a crucial period in Gauguin's artistic development during his stays in Brittany in the late 1880s. "While in the first part of his life, Paul Gauguin painted somewhat in the footsteps of the Impressionist artists, he sought in Brittany, in the years 1889, 90, 91, a place far from Paris," Jaubert explained. "He became attached in his paintings not only to the place – Brittany, first in Pont-Aven then in Le Pouldu – but especially to the population, its character, its identity."
During this transformative Breton period, Gauguin participated in creating a new artistic style called Synthetism, working alongside Émile Bernard, Filiger, Meyer de Haan, and others. "It's really an important moment in Gauguin's stylistic evolution, this passage through Brittany at the end of the 1880s, because really, there, he found his true artistic identity," Jaubert emphasized. This distinctive style would later flourish when Gauguin traveled to Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands, influencing all his Pacific works.
The auction estimate places the panel's value between 500,000 and 700,000 euros (approximately $540,000 to $756,000). While Jaubert acknowledges this as "a substantial price," he notes that "Breton and Synthetist works from this period are extremely rare today. For a canvas from this period, prices are around several million." The sale represents what he describes as "an opportunity for collectors to acquire a unique testimony of Gauguin's Breton period."
Potential buyers are expected to include international collectors, though French institutions may also show interest. While Jaubert notes it's too early to confirm specific interest since the official sale announcement was made only on September 29, he admits with barely concealed enthusiasm that "some institutions have contacted us." The Pont-Aven Museum, when asked about potential interest, declined to comment, explaining that indicating interest could influence auction prices.
The artwork currently belongs to a French private collector who has decided to part with the piece. Before the December 9 auction, "Danse Bretonne" will be unveiled as a preview at Artcurial during Art Basel Paris week, beginning October 20. This rare opportunity to acquire a work from one of Gauguin's most influential periods is expected to generate significant interest among art collectors and institutions worldwide.
