Breton Dance
Currently on view
Georges Lacombe (1868 - 1916), 1893-1894
polychrome woodwork, 64 cm x 203 cm x 4.6 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij)
Everyone in the artist group Les Nabis (The Prophets) had a nickname; Lacombe was called ‘le Nabi-sculpteur’ (the Nabi sculptor). The artist’s extensive experimentation in wood carvings gave rise to an innovative visual language. He chose simple forms and often did not develop his representations in detail.
On this enormous piece of wood Lacombe carved a traditional dance from Brittany. The dancers form a graceful line against a coastline of decorative waves and aquatic plants. Lacombe was inspired by what he saw as the ‘pure’ life of people living in the countryside, still untouched by modern industrial developments. Overall, the scene has a certain naivety, just as Lacombe intended.
- Object number
- v0401S2021
- Dimensions
- 64 cm x 203 cm, 4.6 cm x 73 cm, 212 cm x 7.7 cm
- artist
- Georges Lacombe
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij)
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Musée départemental Maurice Denis "Le Prieuré", Les univers de Georges Lacombe, 13 November 2012-17 February 2013
Versailles, Musée Lambinet, Les univers de Georges Lacombe
Paris, Musée du Luxembourg, L'Aventure de Pont-Aven et Gauguin, 2 April-22 June 2003
Quimper, Musée des Beaux-Arts (Quimper), L'Aventure de Pont-Aven et Gauguin
Pont-Aven, Musée de Pont-Aven, Georges Lacombe 1868-1916, 27 June-28 September 1998
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Le Musée Départemental du Prieuré, Le chemin de Gauguin : genèse et rayonnement, 7 October 1985-2 March 1986
Paris, Galerie de Balzac, Exposition rétrospective des œuvres de Georges Lacombe, 16 June-5 July 1924
Paris, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Zonder titel, 1894
Vellekoop, Marije, Recent acquisitions (2020–25) at the Van Gogh Museum, pp. 1, 5
Bigo, F., Genty, Gilles, Héran, E., Les univers de Georges Lacombe : 1868-1916, Milan, 2012, p. 149
Cariou, André, Stevens, Maryanne, Terrasse, A., L' aventure de Pont-Aven et Gauguin, Milan, 2003, pp. 288-289
Ansieau, Joëlle, Georges Lacombe 1868-1916 : catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1998, p. 171
Ansieau, Joëlle, Puget, Catherine, Georges Lacombe 1868-1916, Pont-Aven, 1998, p. 35
Meslay, O., Salmon, B., Georges Lacombe : sculptures, peintures, dessins, Paris, 1991, p. 21
Barbey, M., Le chemin de Gauguin : genèse et rayonnement, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1985, p. 89
Vignaud, Jean, Exposition rétrospective des œuvres de Georges Lacombe, Paris, 1924