Charles Filiger (28 November 1863, Thann – 11 January 1928,

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

) was a French Symbolist painter. He was one of the artists who associated with

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (, Breton: 'River Bridge') is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 2,821. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called ''Pontavenistes'' in French ...

in Brittany.

Biography

The son of a wallpaper manufacturer in

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...

, Filiger first studied

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

before specializing in painting at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. He exhibited at the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...

in 1889 and 1890. He arrived in

in 1888 and went on to Le Pouldu staying at the Buvette de la Plage where

was also a guest. Other artists who joined the colony in the late 1880s and early 1890s included

Paul Sérusier Paul Sérusier (9 November 1864 – 7 October 1927) was a French painter who was a pioneer of abstract art and an inspiration for the avant-garde Nabis movement, Synthetism and Cloisonnism. Education Sérusier was born in Paris. He studied ...

Charles Laval Charles Laval (17 March 1862 – 27 April 1894) was a French painter associated with the Synthetic movement and Pont-Aven School. Laval was born in Paris, and was a contemporary and friend of Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. Gauguin crea ...

Meijer de Haan Meijer Isaac de Haan (Amsterdam, April 14, 1852 – Amsterdam, October 24, 1895) was a Dutch painter. In French the name was written Meyer de Haan. Biography He was born into a successful Jewish family of bread and matzo bakers who held to conse ...

, Armand Séguin,

Henry Moret Henry Moret (12 December 1856 – 5 May 1913) was a French Impressionist painter. He was one of the artists who associated with Paul Gauguin at Pont-Aven in Brittany. He is best known for his involvement in the Pont-Aven artist colony and his ric ...

and

Émile Jourdan Émile Jourdan (30 July 1860, in Vannes – 29 December 1931, in Quimperlé) was a French painter who became one of the artists who gathered in the village of Pont-Aven in Brittany. Early life Son of Prosper Jourdan, a ranking customs officer, an ...

. From 1890, he received a monthly payment of 100 francs from the artists' patron Count Antoine de La Rochefoucauld who was thus able to select Filiger's best works for himself while the remainder were exhibited at

Le Barc de Boutteville The art gallery of Le Barc de Boutteville, at 47 Rue le Peletier, Rue Le Peletier, 9th arrondissement, was one of the few places in Paris in the 1890s where young artists were welcome to present their work to the public, in the years after the deat ...

, Le Salon de la Rose + Croix and other Paris galleries. After Gauguin's departure in 1895, the other artists soon dispersed. Filiger made frequent moves in the area. After La Rochefoucauld terminated his monthly allowance, he lived in poverty in Kersulé, a hamlet near le Pouldu. He became an alcoholic and drugged himself on ether. After a period in hospital in 1905, he spent four years in a little inn in

Gouarec Gouarec (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Gouarec are called ''gouarécains'' in French. See also *Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department The following is a lis ...

. Breaking his ties with friends and family, from 1911 he lived in

Arzano Arzano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 9 km north of Naples. Arzano borders the following municipalities: Casandrino, Casavatore, Casoria, Frattamaggiore, ...

. In 1914, his sister paid for his board at a hotel in Tregunc. When the owners moved to Plougastel the following year, he moved with them for the remainder of his life. He died an alcoholic in January 1928 after being hospitalized in Brest.

Art

André Breton who bought several of Filiger's works considered him to be a

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

, not strictly within the Pont-Aven school. Nor did

Émile Bernard Émile Henri Bernard (28 April 1868 – 16 April 1941) was a French Post-Impressionist painter and writer, who had artistic friendships with Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Eugène Boch, and at a later time, Paul Cézanne. Most of his nota ...

see him as a disciple of Gauguin, characterizing him as a mixture of Byzantine and Breton popular art forms. In Pont-Aven he remained a mystic and a recluse. The area provided fertile ground for his mystical imagery. Indeed, his geometric approach and expressionless faces in subjects such as ''Virgin and Child'' (1892) show his interest in early Italian painting and the Italian tradition. His landscapes, for example ''Breton Shore'', reflect Gauguin's abstract quality and simplification. Jan Verkade, who met him in Le Pouldu commented: "He produced very little but I have seen some very beautiful gouaches of his; they are mainly religious paintings, reminiscent of Byzantine and primitive Italian works, but quite personal and quite modern."

Selected works

* ''Plage au Pouldu'' (c. 1890), private collection * ''Tête d'homme au béret bleu'' (1892), Musée de Pont-Aven * ''Le génie à la guirlande'' (1892), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper * ''Paysage du Pouldu'' (c. 1892), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper * ''Christ au jeune Breton'' (1895), private collection * ''La chapelle au Christ couronné d'épines'' (c. 1903-1905), Musée du Louvre * ''Sainte Pleureuse et ange musicien'' (recto-verso) (1890 and 1892), Musée d'art contemporain, Strasbourg.

Gallery

File:Charles filiger saint cecilia.jpg File:Charles filiger The Entombment.jpg File:Filiger Last judgement.jpg

References

Bibliography

* Coll, ''Charles Filiger ( 1863-1928)'' Petite Encyclopédie des Peintres de Bretagne. éd. Le Télégramme, 2001. Photos: Luc Robin. 32. p. * Antoine de La Rochefoucauld, article in ''Le Cœur'', 1893. * Félix Fénéon, article in ''La Vogue'', September 1899. * G. A. Aurier, in ''Mercure de France'', April 1891. Article on Filiger's works at the Salon des Indépendants, 1890.

External links

Charles Filiger from History of Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filiger, Charles 1863 births 1928 deaths People from Thann, Haut-Rhin French Symbolist painters Pont-Aven painters 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Académie Colarossi alumni 19th-century French male artists