The former hotel Julia is converted into a beautiful little museum in Pont Aven

Ecole de Pont Aven is one of those names, that one knows and does not really concretize. I had been wanting to visit this small sea side village of French Cornwall in Southern Brittany for a long time and the reopening of its museum engineered by its young general curator, Estelle Guille des Buttes-Fresneau,  was the occasion.

Thanks to paint tubes, the artists could start painting outside. Here Hermanvan der Acker paints his colleagues on the beach.

The charming little town crossed by a river and a walk on bridges all along, was quiet at 10 a m when we arrived. Little did I know that Pont Aven was launched in the 1850’s by a group of intrepid American painters who would soon be joined by Scottish, British, Irish and Dutch artists. Paul Gauguin, who gave it its fame, only came in 1886, and on an off till 1894. Such important painters as Paul Sérusier and Maurice Denis followed.

Paul Gauguin, Village de Bretagne sous la neige, 1894, on loan from Musée d’Orsay

Set on three levels, the museum is of a lovely size. On the top floor the permanent collections comprise works by Deyrolle, Mosler, Francis P. Penfold, Henry Bacon and Robert Wylie, Marie Luplau from Denmark, Edward Loyal Field… It is a succession of local scenes, seamstresses and bakers typical of Brittany and portraits of other painters and their wives. The renovation of the galleries designed by architecture firm Atelier de l’Ile (who worked previously at Musée Rodin, Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre) is happy and discreet. And there is a feeling of joy while walking around.

The painters on the bridge in 1886

The museum is located in the former Hotel Julia run by Julia Guillou who hosted all the artists from 1870 until 1938. Julia organised thier lives, with musical evenings, transportation, and of course excellent food. It makes sense that their paintings are now shown where they were executed.

André Jolly, “The bread oven” 1909

Created very late in 1985 with a few works shown in the town hall, the Musée de Pont Aven is now a national monument. Ecole de Pont Aven, Japonism, Nabis and Pont Aven after Gauguin are the four themes of the collection which is progressively enriched with acquisitions and loans from Musée d’Orsay.

Paul Abraham, La fileuse de Pont Aven, 1883

Inside the museum, the atmosphere is very cheerful

The team is small, young and smiling and there is real joy in visiting this little town, with its harbor, which dries up at low tide, and many pretty walks. It gets very crowded in August but if you go at the opening at 10 am, it is blissful.

(Pont Aven is six hours from Paris, one hour from Quimper and two hours from Rennes)