Bonjour, Monsieur Gauguin

The painting was made in the autumn of 1889 during the artist’s stay in Bretagne, specifically in Le Pouldu. The topic of Gauguin’s painting is associated with Courbet’s painting Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet of 1854 with which Gauguin became acquainted in the Museum Fabre in Montpellier that he visited along with van Gogh. However, the characters of the two paintings vary: the ceremonial mood of Courbet’s work on the one hand contrasts with the prosaic and civil character and certain irony in Gauguin’s painting on the other.