The artwork titled “Breton Woman and Goose by the Water” is an oil on canvas painting created by Paul Gauguin in 1888, while he resided in Pont-Aven, France. This piece is exemplary of the Post-Impressionism movement, and as a genre painting, it captures a scene from everyday life. Although the specific location where the artwork is held is not publicly disclosed, it is part of a private collection.
In the artwork, Gauguin utilizes vibrant and contrasting colors in a manner characteristic of the Post-Impressionist style, which sought to convey emotion and symbolic meaning through color and brushwork. The painting portrays a woman in traditional Breton attire, embodying the regional identity of Brittany. She is positioned at the right side of the canvas, gazing into the distance. Her pose suggests a moment of contemplation or pause amidst her daily activities.
Beside her, a goose is prominently featured and dominates the lower left quadrant of the canvas. The goose, rendered with quick, expressive strokes, stands in a grassy area that Gauguin has highlighted with vivid greens against a luminous orange that fills the canvas, depicting either the ground or a reflection of light juxtaposed with a body of water.
The background is abstract, with patches of blue seemingly melding into the sky or water, interspersed with fiery orange and bursts of red, suggesting a scene at dusk or dawn, where the natural light transforms ordinary surroundings into a tableau of intense color and emotion. Gauguin’s signature can be found in the lower left part of the canvas, leaving an indelible mark of his artistic identity on the work.
