Charles Laval (17 March 1862 – 27 April 1894) was a French painter associated with the Synthetic movement and

Pont-Aven School Pont-Aven School (french: École de Pont-Aven, br, Skol Pont Aven) encompasses works of art influenced by the Breton town of Pont-Aven and its surroundings. Originally the term applied to works created in the artists' colony at Pont-Aven, which s ...

. Laval was born in Paris, and was a contemporary and friend of

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

and

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

. Gauguin created a portrait of him in 1886 looking at one of Gauguin's ceramic sculptures, entitled '' Still Life with Profile of Laval''.

Charles Laval and Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin and Laval both came to Pension Gloanec in

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (, Breton: 'River Bridge') is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 2,821. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called ''Pontavenistes'' in French ...

in 1886 and became friends. In search of an exoticism that could provide the key to art, Gauguin and Laval went to Panama in 1887. To gain some subsidies, Laval performs academic portraits (all lost), using his experience received from Leon Bonnat. A series of mishaps caused Laval and Gauguin to leave Central America for the island of

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

. There he made a small series of landscapes speckled with bright colors, that have been erroneously attributed to Gauguin in the past. Laval died of an illness complicated by

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

in 1894 at the age of 32.

Charles Laval and Van Gogh

Laval’s self-portrait came about because of an agreement between

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

and several of his friends.

asked Laval,

and

Émile Bernard Émile Henri Bernard (28 April 1868 – 16 April 1941) was a French Post-Impressionist painter and writer, who had artistic friendships with Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Eugène Boch, and at a later time, Paul Cézanne. Most of his nota ...

to send him a portrait, in exchange for one of his own self-portraits.

was impressed by Laval's contribution. He included a small drawing of the Laval portrait in a letter to

Theo Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

, in order to give his brother an idea of the painting. He described Laval's painting as ''powerful, distinguished and precisely one of the paintings that you talk about: that one has in one's possession before others have recognized the talent''.Van Gogh Museum
Retrieved April 6, 2011,

Selected bibliography

* John Rewald, ''Post-Impressionism, from Van Gogh to Gauguin'', Paris, 1961 * Wladyslawa Jaworska, ''Gauguin and the School of Pont-Aven'', Neuchatel, 1971 * Sophie Monneret, ''Impressionism and his era'', vol. 1, Paris, 1978 1, Paris, 1978 * Karen Pope, ''Gauguin and Martinique'', Austin, 1980 * Welsh-Bogomila Ovsharov, ''Vincent van Gogh & the Birth of Cloisonism'', Toronto, 1981 * Victor Merlhes, ''Correspondence of Paul Gauguin 1872-1888'', Paris, 1984 * John Loiza, ''How Gauguin made a wonderful discovery of Martinique, Le Carbet'', 1990 * Émile Bernard, ''Commentaries on Art'', Volume I, Paris, 1994 * Daniel Wildenstein, Sylvie Crussard, ''Catalogue raisonné of the work of Paul Gauguin 1873-1888'', Paris, 2001 (Albi) Femmes au bord de la mer dit La Martinique (1887) - Charles Laval - Musée D'Orsay.jpg, ''Women by the sea'' Laval harvest in brittany.jpg, ''Harvest in Brittany'' Laval, Charles - Going to Market, Brittany - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Going to Market, Brittany'' Laval bretons.jpg, ''Bretons'' Charles Laval - Paysage de la Martinique (1887)

Charles Laval - Paysage de la Martinique (1887)

References

External links

at the Musée d'Orsay {{DEFAULTSORT:Laval, Charles 1862 births 1894 deaths Painters from Paris 19th-century French painters French male painters Post-impressionist painters Place of death missing Pont-Aven painters 19th-century French male artists