This distant province is discovered by artists at the dawn of the 19th century. They were attracted by its colourful costumes, ancient ways of life and the originality of its religious heritage. The pervading romanticism makes them especially sensitive to the misty weather. They choose ports with a rich and adventurous past and headlands overlooking the sea where they love to portray tragic storms. The numerous lithographic albums of the time popularise its monuments, churches, Calvary crosses and ossuaries, explore the sparkling diversity of the peasant costumes and arouse the desire to visit this region already created by writers like Chateaubriand. The beauty and the diversity of the landscapes, the luminosity and infinite variability of the skies add to the pictorial appeal (and also the cheap cost of living and the quality of the welcome). Soon artists return every summer to beloved places, such as Douarnenez, Concarneau, Camaret? The vogue for Brittany is shown each year at the great Paris exhibitions, at the Salon. Academic painters draw from the markets, festivals and pardons and also from the maritime dramas of great paintings noted by the critics. Landscape painters explore the golden shores, capture the morning light and try to portray the difficult movement of the waves.
Read more here  : http://www.brittanytourism.com/eng/bretagn...ntres/index.cfm
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Que restera-t-il de notre sang mêlé au sel, sans trace dans les mémoires ? Une ultime navigation, trompeuse. Et des souvenirs, illuminés d'embruns. Mais condamnés au silence de la mer... Loïc Finaz.  |
Let's Talk About Art (2nd Try...), Painters in Brittany
