Literature: Caroline Boyle-Turner: “Jan Verkade - Hollandse volgeling van Gauguin” (Dutch follower of Gauguin), Uitgeverij Waanders / Zwolle and Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam 1989, a study with similar motif from the artist's sketch book ill. p. 113.

Provenance: Private collection, Frederiksberg, Denmark. Presumably acquired by Mr. Arthur Polack (1872–1953) and subsequently inherited within his family.

In February 1894, Jan Verkade exhibited at J. C. Stockholm's Permanent Art Exhibition, Bredgade 28 in Copenhagen, which had been decorated for the occasion by his friend and fellow artist Mogens Ballin. The exhibition included approximately 40 drawings, primarily portraits, and 21 smaller paintings—portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. A small catalog was printed for the event. The present work may possibly correspond to catalog no. 20, titled “Landsbyen” (The Village), executed in tempera in 1893. Mr. Arthur Polack was an art enthusiast and may have purchased the work directly from the exhibition, but also later, possibly through Mogens Ballin, who acquired several works from the exhibition.

The Dutch painter Jan Verkade traveled to Paris in 1891, where he briefly met Paul Gauguin. In the preceding years, Gauguin had painted in places such as Brittany, Martinique, and Copenhagen and, together with artists like Émile Bernard and Paul Sérusier, had developed a style known as synthetism. This approach sought to unify emotion, perception of nature, and the purely formal qualities of colour, line, and form. Verkade attended Gauguin’s farewell dinner before his departure for Tahiti and, under Sérusier’s guidance, became part of the group Les Nabis, which included Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis. Besides synthetism, the group was also inspired by other avant-garde movements of the time, such as symbolism, Japanese prints, and the works of Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Puvis de Chavannes. In Paris, Verkade worked artistically, visited galleries and museums, and, like the rest of the group, became increasingly engaged in spiritual and philosophical questions. In the summer of 1891, Sérusier encouraged Verkade to travel with him to Brittany, a region that strongly attracted artists in Gauguin’s circle due to its perceived authenticity and untouched nature. On this journey, Verkade met the Danish artist Mogens Ballin, who had been living in Paris since 1889 and wished to join the trip. The two like-minded artists became close friends.

In late summer 1891, Verkade traveled from Pont-Aven to the quieter and more secluded small town of Le Pouldu on the southern coast of Brittany, from which the present motif originates. He returned to Le Pouldu in the summer of 1892. The present painting is dated 1893, indicating that it was not created on-site but later, possibly based on the aforementioned study from the artist’s sketchbook, as referenced in Caroline Boyle-Turner’s catalog. The almost luminous work is further stylized compared to the study and meticulously executed in every detail, which may be explained by the temporal and spatial distance from the original setting.