Note Type
Artist’s Intent NoteNote
In the foreground, four girls intently weave lace by hand. This centuries-old enterprise represented an inherited tradition maintained among generations of Breton women, each community boasting their own distinctive patterning. Behind them, a row of pastel-colored houses is met by a cluster of trees, beyond which a coastline recedes—a nod to the nearby Atlantic Ocean. This work is among the earliest examples of Charreton’s experimentation with painting on primed canvases. The white ground on which subsequent impasto layers of paint have been applied gives the piece its luminous quality. Many works from this period reveal the artist’s fascination with the routines of peasant life, specifically among children. As with his contemporaries, Charreton’s interest in traditional clothing can be understood as nostalgia for a pre-industrial past. Breton Lacemakers was one of fourteen paintings offered on behalf of the artist to his physician, Dr. Jean Pakowski, in appreciation for the care provided while convalescing at Clermont-Ferrand Hospital.Note Type
Cataloging NoteNote
Literature: Victor Charreton : vie et œuvre, Robert Chatin and Bertrand Chatin, 1995, p. 451, 475, no. 979. (Volume 1)