Te vaa (1896)

Gauguin, Paul (1848-1903) Te vaa (Canoe; Tahitian Family) 1896 Oil on canvas, 95.5 x 131.5 cm Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Gauguin moved to Tahiti (Polynesia) in 1891, seeking to find the simplicity lacking in the “civilised” life of Parisian society. Here he…

Portrait of a Man with an Open Book (1430s)

Van der Weyden, Rogier (c.1399-1464) Portrait of a Man with an Open Book – Guillaume Fillastre (?) (recto) 1430s Unidentified paint on panel, 33.7 x 23.5 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London Branch of Holly (verso) The man looks up, as if…

Les meules de foin (1889)

Gauguin, Paul (1848-1903) Les meules de foin (The Haystacks) 1889 Oil on canvas, 92 x 73.3 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London In the 1880s, Paul Gauguin made several extended trips to Brittany in western France, attracted by the region’s remoteness and…

Te Rerioa (1897)

Gauguin, Paul (1848-1903) Te Rerioa (The Dream) 1897 Oil on canvas, 95.1 x 130.2 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London Paul Gauguin painted this striking work a few years after settling in Tahiti, a French colony in the southern Pacific, and only…

Intérieur avec un écran (c.1909-1910)

Vuillard, Édouard (1868-1940) Intérieur avec un écran (Interior with a Screen) c.1909–1910 Oil on paper, laid on cardboard and panel, 35.8 x 23.8 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London Like many of Édouard Vuillard’s paintings, this intimate work is painted on paper,…

Pot de fleurs et fruits (c.1888-1890)

Cézanne, Paul (1839-1906) Pot de fleurs et fruits (Pot of Flowers and Fruit) c.1888–1890 Oil on canvas, 46 x 56.25 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London The commonplace objects in this deceptively simple still life allow Paul Cézanne to set himself a…

Femme laçant sa chaussure (c.1918)

Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Femme laçant sa chaussure (Woman Tying her Shoe) c.1918 Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 56.5 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London This is one of the final paintings Pierre-Auguste Renoir made before his death the following year. Having become…

Les Environs de Pont-Aven (c.1888-1890)

Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919) Les Environs de Pont-Aven (Outskirts of Pont-Aven) c.1888–1890 Oil on canvas, 54.5 x 65 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London In the late 1880s, Pierre-Auguste Renoir made several visits to Pont-Aven, an artists’ colony in Brittany where Paul Gauguin…

La maison du péage (c.1890)

Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910) La maison du péage (The Toll Gate) c.1890 Oil on canvas, 40.6 x 32.75 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London This is the only known painting in which the amateur artist Henri Rousseau referenced his employment as a tax…

Saint-Tropez (c.1893)

Signac, Paul (1863-1935) Saint-Tropez c.1893 Oil and graphite on panel, 18.8 x 27.1 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London Signac moved to St-Tropez in 1892. He was the first Parisian artist to settle in this remote Mediterranean fishing village. He sought ‘sky,…