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drawing of a cactus plant with yellow flowers in the foregroundan old picture of a picture of a painting on a wallan old picture frame hanging on a wall with a rope attached to ita sculpture of a man standing in front of a painting in a room
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Estimate €25,000 - €35,000
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Description
Paul SÉRUSIER Ferns – 1899 Black chalk and pastel on paper Initials stamped in the bottom right and bottom left: ‘PS’ 31.2 x 23.8 cm Provenance: Auction, Paris, Ader Picard Tajan, 9 April 1987, lot 9 Auction, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 21 March 1988, lot 287  Auction, Paris, Ader Picard Tajan, 26 November 1988, lot 44 Auction, Paris, Me Loudmer, 28 October 1991, lot 122 Auction, Paris, Kâ-Mondo, 20 June 2018, lot 78 Galerie de La Présidence, Paris Acquired from the gallery by the current owner on 2 February 2019 Louis Grandchamp des Raux Collection Exhibitions: Warsaw, Royal Łazienki Museum, *The Nabis – Prophets of a New Art*, July–September 2026 Bibliography: M. Guicheteau, Paul Sérusier, Volume II, Graphédis éditeur, Pontoise, 1989, no. 81, reproduced in black and white on pp. 98–99 Black chalk and pastel on paper; stamped with the initials in the lower right and lower left corners; 12 1/4 x 9 3/8 in. Nicknamed ‘the Nabi with the gleaming beard’, Paul Sérusier epitomised the quest for a new pictorial language, based on pure colour and the simplification of forms. It was during the summer of 1888, whilst staying in Concarneau and then Pont-Aven, that he met Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were to profoundly transform his artistic practice. Under Gauguin’s influence, he moved away from naturalism to explore an art based on emotion and synthesis. On a small panel, Sérusier painted a small landscape in the Bois d’Amour in Pont-Aven, which was later named *Le Talisman*. On his return to Paris, he presented it to his fellow students at the Académie Julian, who were struck by the work’s synthetic power and chromatic freedom. A group soon formed around him known as the Nabis – a term meaning ‘prophet’ in Hebrew – which paved a new path for pictorial experimentation, breaking away from academic realism and naturalism. Sérusier subsequently returned regularly to Brittany, working alongside Gauguin, Émile Bernard and Meyer de Haan. He found in Breton culture a source of timeless inspiration and a counterpoint to modern Parisian life. In this work, dated 1899 in the artist’s catalogue raisonné, Sérusier composes a landscape featuring a dense tangle of vegetation, almost abstract in nature. The flat areas of colour and black outlines structuring the composition are reminiscent of the teachings of Gauguin and the Pont-Aven school. Here he presents a joyful and vibrant nature, a teeming natural world whose primal force so fascinated the artist. Paul SÉRUSIER 31.2 x 23.8 cm Known as the ‘Nabi with the shiny red beard’, Paul Sérusier embodied the quest for a new pictorial language, based on the use of pure colour and the simplification of forms. It was in the summer of 1888, whilst staying in Concarneau and then in Pont-Aven, that Sérusier met Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who would profoundly transform his style of painting. Under Gauguin’s influence, he turned away from naturalism to explore an art based on emotion and synthesis. In the Bois d’Amour in Pont-Aven, on a small panel, Sérusier painted a landscape later famously known as *Le Talisman*. Upon returning to Paris, he presented it to his fellow students at the Académie Julien, who were all struck by the work’s concentrated power and chromatic freedom. A group known as the ‘Nabis’ – meaning ‘prophet’ in Hebrew – soon formed around Sérusier, pioneering a new approach to pictorial experimentation that broke with academic Realism and Naturalism. Sérusier returned regularly to Brittany, working closely with Gauguin, Émile Bernard and Meyer de Haab. He found in Breton culture a source of timeless inspiration and a counterpoint to modern Parisian life. In this work on paper, dated 1899 in the catalogue raisonné, Sérusier depicts a landscape of dense and tangled vegetation, almost abstract. The blocks of colour and black outlines that give structure to the composition are reminiscent of the teachings of Gauguin and the Pont-Aven School. He presents us with a joyous and vibrant natural world, a bountiful nature whose primal force so fascinated the artist.
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About the sale The Louis Grandchamp des Raux Collection
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Auction time 10/24/2026 at 4:00 PM
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