A Farm in Brittany c. 1894

Paul Gauguin's painting, A Farm in Brittany, likely dating from the late 1880s, depicts a rural scene using oil on canvas. This was a time when artists were turning away from the city toward more traditional rural landscapes. The image creates meaning through its vivid colors and simplified forms, referencing the area of Brittany, a region associated with peasant culture and traditional values. Gauguin was part of a broader artistic movement that looked to non-urban settings as a source of authenticity, and his choice of subject matter reflects a critique of industrialization. Whether this depiction is self-consciously conservative, romanticizing rural life, or progressive, using it to question the values of the time, can only be known by considering the socio-political context in which it was made. To understand it better, scholars have researched his letters, the history of Brittany, and the ways that museums and galleries have shaped the reception of his art.