For more than 200 years, Brittany has provided great inspiration for artists and is one of the French regions most frequented by painters.

At the start of the XXth century, many artists left their Paris studios during the summer to paint out of doors in Brittany. The inexhaustible variety of the coastal and interior lands- capes and also, the Bretons themselves with their customs, beliefs and legends fascinated artists. Artists' colonies were established at Concarneau, Pont-Aven, Douarnenez, Camaret, Rochefort-en-Terre, Pont-Croix, Cancale, and Faouët...

More solitary painters also made the reputation of less frequented sites, such as Plédéliac, Kerity, Clisson, or the Monts d'Arrée. A multitude of routes allows retracing the steps of painters fascinated by the riches of Brittany who, through their art, expressed their love of the region.

Gauguin and the Pont-Aven school

Discovered in the 1860s by an American painter, Pont-Aven became the residence for a colony of extremely cosmopolitan artists. The inns of this small town were populated by French, English, Danish, Finnish and Irish
artists. The arrival of Paul Gauguin and his disciples at Pont-Aven, then at Pouldu marked a major turning point in the history of painting.

Émile Bernard, Maxime Maufra, Henry Moret, Charles Filiger and Paul Sérusier guided by their master, presented a new concept of representational art, manifesting a total break with most traditional practices. By creating this movement, called "syntheticism", they opened up the way to an artistic movement that broke free of the academic principles. The Self Portrait of the Yellow Christ and the Green Christ by Gauguin, The Talisman by Sérusier, The Landscape at Pouldu by Filiger and Pont-Aven Under A Red Sky by Maufra are just a few examples of the celebrated works of the group.

The painters of the Emerald Coast

Saint-Malo, Saint-Servan, Cancale and Dinan attracted painters from the 1860s: Eugène Isabey, Camille Corot, John Sargent and many others immortalised these historic sites on canvas. But it was mainly the coastline, between Dinard and Cap Fréhel, which gave rise to the most original works.

At Saint-Briac, Paul Signac turned his back on the simplicity of impressionism and invented pointillism. Maurice Denis, the Jewish painter drew inspiration from the Ploumanac'h region and from Trégastel where he settled with his family. As for Picasso, he selected the theme of women playing on the beach to give free rein to his impressionism. Auguste Renoir, Émile Bernard, Edouard Vuillard, Henry Rivière, Bernard Buffet were all included in the 160 artists who have been seduced by the North Coast of Brittany.

Belle-Île and its painters

Arriving to spend a few weeks at Belle-Ile, Claude Monet immortalised the rocky coast of the island in some forty paintings. Fascinated by the wild nature of the landscape, the master of impressionism sought to capture on canvas the atmospheric effects of a storm at sea. Following in the steps of Monet, Cottet, Matisse, Hélion, Gromaire, Vasarely and many others subsequently explored the island and in turn offered their impressions of the needle sharp rocks of Port-Coton, Port-Donant or Port-Goulphar.

The Brittany of Mathurin Méheut

Of all the artists playing a fundamental role in the tradition of works of art inspired by Brittany, Mathurin Méheut appears as the artist of the century. Through his paintings, drawings and illustrations, his designs and ceramics, he presented incomparable yet authentic visions of daily life in Brittany during the first half of the XXth century.

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