The Volpini Exhibition was an exhibition of paintings arranged by

Paul 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 ...

and his circle held at the Café des Arts on the

Champ de Mars The Champ de Mars (; en, Field of Mars) is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh ''arrondissement'', between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after t ...

, not far from the official art pavilion of the 1889 '' Exposition universelle'' in Paris. Lucie-Smith, Edward (1972). ''Symbolist Art''. London: Thames & Hudson, p. 94. A poster and an illustrated catalogue were printed, but the show of "Paintings by the Impressionist and Synthetist Group", held in June and early July 1889, was ignored by the press and proved to be a failure.

Background

The official art exhibition at the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

accompanying the ''Exposition universelle'' displayed works by invited artists only, and the selection of works to be exhibited had to pass the judgement of official juries. Neither Gauguin nor his friends could hope to enter this exhibition. However, by chance Emile Schuffenecker found another way that they might present their work to the public in conjunction with the exposition. Monsieur Volpini, who had the contract for the Grand Café des Arts opposite the exhibition, had a problem: the mirrors he had ordered in Italy to decorate the interior of his café would not arrive in time for the opening of the exposition. Schuffenecker proposed that the gap could be filled with a display of paintings created by himself and his friends.

Participation

Gauguin, through Schuffenecker, ensured that the Neo-Impressionists

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough su ...

Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the Pointillist style. Biography Paul Signac was born in Paris on 11 November 1863. ...

Henri-Edmond Cross Henri-Edmond Cross, born Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix, (20 May 1856 – 16 May 1910) was a French painter and printmaker. He is most acclaimed as a master of Neo-Impressionism and he played an important role in shaping the second phase of t ...

and

Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). H ...

were excluded from the exhibition. He proposed to include: * 10 paintings each, by Schuffenecker,

Guillaumin Guillaumin is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Armand Guillaumin (1842–1927), French impressionist painter and lithographer *André Guillaumin (1885–1974), French botanist *Colette Guillaumin Colette Guillaumin (28 ...

, Gauguin and Bernard * 2 paintings each by Roy and Fauché * 6 paintings by

van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

Guillaumin and Theo van Gogh, acting for his brother Vincent, refused to participate, while Anquetin, Laval and Monfreid joined the group. Bernard split his contribution: two of his paintings were shown under the pseudonym ''Ludovic Nemo'' and described as ''peintures pètroles''. The final participation was: *

– 17 items *

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 ...

– 10 items * Léon Fauché – 5 items * E. Schuffenecker – 20 items *

Louis Anquetin Louis Émile Anquetin (26 January 1861 – 19 August 1932) was a French painter. Biography Anquetin was born in Étrépagny, France, and educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen. In 1882 he came to Paris and began studying art at Lé ...

– 7 items * Georges Daniel – 3 items *

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 ...

– 23 items *

Louis Roy Louis Roy (20 July 1959 – disappeared 23 June 2000), better known as "Mélou", was a Canadian outlaw biker and gangster, said to have been the richest Hells Angel in Quebec. Biography Roy was born and grew up in Trois-Rivières. He was a memb ...

– 7 items * Ludovic Nemo – 2 items

Catalogue layout and illustrations

The catalogue for the exhibition had a somewhat idiosyncratic layout. The title page was followed by a list of contributing artists (''Exposants'') accompanied by a Gauguin drawing titled ''Aux Rochers noires''. The drawing was a conflation of two of his exhibited paintings, ''Breton Eve'' and ''In the Waves''.Thomson p. 94 The next double-page lists Gauguin's contribution (nos. 31–47) and reproduces Gauguin's ''Les Faneuses'', and the one following Schuffenecker's list (nos. 55–67, 78, 69–73, 83) together with ''Ramasseuses de varech'' (Yport). Émile Bernard continues (nos. 7-19bis, 75–88), illustrated by ''Reverie''. Now, Louis Anquetin (Nos. 1-6bis) precedes Louis Roy (nos. 49-54bis) and an illustration of his ''Gardeur de cochons''. Léon Fauché (nos. 22, 23, 25, 26, 28) and a reproduction of his ''Paysan'' occupies the next two pages, Charles Laval (nos. 84, 85, 89–96) and George Daniel (nos. 20-21bis) continue; ''Femme lisant'' of the latter is illustrated. The two final pages of the catalogue list two works by Ludovic Némo (nos. 74, 87) accompanied by an untitled reproduction, and note that an album of lithographs by Bernard and Gauguin can be seen on demand.

Selected works from the catalogue

File:Paul Gauguin 087.jpg, Paul Gauguin - ''The Mango Trees, Martinique''. Purchased by Theo van Gogh for 400 francs, the most expensive painting he ever bought. File:Paul Gauguin 032.jpg, Paul Gauguin - ''Breton Girls Dancing''. File:Gauguin Eve Bretonne.jpg, Paul Gauguin - ''Breton Eve'' File:Paul_Gauguin_-_"In_the_waves"_or_"Ondine"_-_1889.jpg, Paul Gauguin - ''In the Waves''.

Notes, references and sources

;Notes and references ;Sources * Reff, Theodore, ed. (1982). ''Catalogue de L'Exposition de Peintures du Groupe Impressioniste et Synthétiste faite dans le local de M. Volpini au Champ-de-Mars 1889'', Impr. Watelet; reprinted by Watelet-Arbelot, 1971, and republished in ''Modern Art in Paris'', vol. 28, New York & London * * Malingue, Maurice (1949). ''Paul Gauguin: letters to his wife and friends''. Cleveland * Mathews, Nancy Mowll (2001). ''Paul Gauguin, an Erotic Life''. New Haven, Connecticut:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, * Rewald, John (1978). ''Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin'', revised edition. London: Secker & Warburg, pp. 255–265 * Siberchicot, Clément (2011). ''L'Exposition Volpini, 1889. Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard, Charles Laval: une avant-garde au coeur de l'Exposition universelle'', Paris: Classiques Garnier * Thomson, Belinda (1987). ''Gauguin''. London: Thames and Hudson. {{DEFAULTSORT:Volpini Exhibition Art exhibitions in France Paul Gauguin 1889 in France