Laval, Charles (1861-1894)
Bretons se promenant (Bretons Walking)
c.1889–1890
Gouache and watercolor on thin cardboard, 38.7 x 59 cm
Private collection
Charles Laval studied in the studio of the great academic artist Léon Bonnat and with the history painter Fernand Cormon. Many artists of the avant-garde movement met at their ateliers, including Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh, Bernard, Anquetin and Puigaudeau, with whom Laval went to Pont-Aven for the first time in 1889. It was on this trip that Laval met Gauguin, and the two men became fast friends, painting together and rooming together for a short time. They even travelled to Martinique together on Gauguin‘s now famous first voyage to the South Seas.
It was upon Laval‘s return to France that he met van Gogh, who would also have a decisive influence on the painter’s stylistic evolution. Executed during his second stay in Pont-Aven, Bretons se promenant, with its vivid colours and lively brushstroke, is a prime example of the influence of the Dutch master on Laval. Having been stricken by tuberculosis, Laval died very young, leaving behind a very limited body of work, of which the present gouache is one of the finest examples. (Christie’s)