Charles Laval
Encyclopedia
Charles Laval was a French painter born March 17, 1862 in Paris and who died April 27, 1894. He is associated with the Synthetic movement
and Pont-Aven School
, and he was a contemporary and friend of Paul Gauguin
and Vincent van Gogh
. Gauguin created a portrait of him in 1886 looking at one of Gauguin's Ceramic sculptures, entitled "Still Life with Profile of Laval".
Paul Gauguin and Laval both came to Pension Gloanec in Pont-Aven
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 the Central America for the island of Martinique
. 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 illness complicated by tuberculosis
in 1894 at the age of 32.
and Émile Bernard
to send him a portrait, in exchange for one of his own self-portraits.
Van Gogh was impressed by Laval's contribution. He included a small drawing of the Laval portrait in a letter to Theo
, 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.
Synthetism
Synthetism is a term used by post-Impressionist artists like Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard and Louis Anquetin to distinguish their work from Impressionism. Earlier, Synthetism has been connected to the term Cloisonnism, and later to Symbolism...
and Pont-Aven School
Pont-Aven School
Pont-Aven School is a term occupied by works of art iconographically due to Pont-Aven and its surroundings. Originally the term was focusing works of the artists' colony emerging there since the 1850s, and some decades later the work of the group of painters gathering around the artist Paul...
, and he was a contemporary and friend of Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
and Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
. Gauguin created a portrait of him in 1886 looking at one of Gauguin's Ceramic sculptures, entitled "Still Life with Profile of Laval".
Paul Gauguin and Laval both came to Pension Gloanec in Pont-Aven
Pont-Aven
Pont-Aven is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called in French Pontavenistes.-History:...
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
Léon Bonnat
Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat was a French painter.He was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in Madrid, where his father owned a bookshop. While tending his father's shop, he copied engravings of works by the Old Masters, developing a passion for drawing...
. A series of mishaps caused Laval and Gauguin to leave the Central America for the island of Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
. 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 illness complicated by tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
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 and several of his friends. Van Gogh asked Laval, Paul GauguinPaul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
and Émile Bernard
Émile Bernard
Émile Henri Bernard is known as a Post-Impressionist painter who had artistic friendships with Van Gogh, Gauguin and Eugene Boch, and at a later time, Cézanne. Most of his notable work was accomplished at a young age, in the years 1886 through 1897. He is also associated with Cloisonnism and...
to send him a portrait, in exchange for one of his own self-portraits.
Van Gogh was impressed by Laval's contribution. He included a small drawing of the Laval portrait in a letter to Theo
Theo van Gogh (art dealer)
Theodorus "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch art dealer. He was the younger brother of Vincent van Gogh, and Theo's unfailing financial and emotional support allowed his brother to devote himself entirely to painting...
, 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.
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
- Emile Bernard, Commentaries on Art, Volume I, Paris, 1994
- Daniel Wildenstein, Sylvie Crussard, Catalogue raisonné of the work of Paul Gauguin 1873-1888, Paris, 2001
External links
- http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/resultat-collection.html?no_cache=1&zsz=1&zs_r_2_z=3&zs_r_2_w=Laval%2C%20Charles&zs_ah=oeuvre&zs_rf=mos_a&zs_mf=21&zs_sf=0&zs_send_x=1&zs_liste_only=1Charles Laval paintings at the Musée d'OrsayMusée d'OrsayThe Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
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