Study for "Breton Women at a Pardon"

Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret was one of the most technically accomplished French naturalist painters, and this 1887 preparatory study for his major painting 'Breton Women at a Pardon' documents his thorough preparatory method. The 'Pardon' — a traditional Breton Catholic celebration combining religious ceremony with communal gathering — was a quintessential subject for painters drawn to the distinctive culture of Brittany. This study, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, captures individual women in the traditional Breton coiffe (head-dress) that made Breton subjects immediately recognizable to Salon audiences.

As a preparatory study, this work has the directness and specificity of observation rather than the compositional refinement of a finished painting. Dagnan-Bouveret focuses on the figures and their distinctive costume — the elaborate white coiffes — rendered with careful attention to the structure of the fabric and the particular character of each sitter.