Back to gallery
Haystacks in Brittany

Art Appreciation

This vivid landscape bursts with the quiet rhythms of rural life, where massive haystacks tower amidst patchworks of cultivated fields and soft, rolling hills. The composition is anchored by these monolithic forms—bold and almost sculptural—set under a vast, tranquil sky brushed with hues of pale blue and muted cream. The perspective draws you inward; the haystacks dominate the mid-ground, creating a bridge between the foreground, where cows graze near a figure quietly tending to the land, and the distant horizon where dark greens and ochres blend into a peaceful countryside.

The artist employs a rich but restrained palette—earthy browns, deep greens, and touches of orange—infused with subtle shifts in light and shadow that give texture and depth. The brushwork is deliberate yet gentle, revealing a harmony between the natural environment and human presence. There's an almost meditative stillness here, evoking the steady, enduring pace of agrarian life in Brittany at the close of the 19th century, inviting viewers to feel the cool air and hear the muted sounds of the fields beyond the frame.

Haystacks in Brittany

Paul Gauguin

Category:

Created:

1890

Likes:

0

Dimensions:

4999 × 3972 px
936 × 743 mm

Download:

Related artworks

Les Andelys, Côte d'Aval
Elbrus in the Day: Flock of Sheep on the Slopes
The Japanese Bridge (The Water-Lily Pond and Path by the Water)
Gondola in front of the Grand Basin, Venice
Weeping Willow and Water-Lily Pond
A Moonlit River Landscape with Figures on a Boat, a Church Beyond
Waterloo Bridge, London, at Dusk
The Edge of the Woods at Monts-Girard, Fontainebleau Forest
Himalayas (Thakur's House. Gundla)
View of the Sea at Sunset