ESCAPES

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      PONT AVEN : THE CITY OF PAINTERS  
When we visit France, particularly our regions and territories, we are always delighted to meet the men and women who live there against the backdrop of landscapes where
magical colors are often  drawn at  sunrise and nothing  like a getaway to  PONT AVEN
called City Of Painters  and located  in Brittany  in the Finistère department to discover its attractions and its beautifully preserved cultural heritage, a witness to our history.
Located in the southern part  of  Finistère near the  Atlantic coast  and  bordered  to the east by the Aven river where it
widens  into an  estuary which  forms a ria   which  is called an Aber in Breton which formerly covered the waters of the 
Aven in parallel to supply its many mills which  gave it the  saying of "Pont Aven city of renown 14 mills and 15 houses", The town of Pont Aven is a radiant city that is a pleasure to visit. strolling  along its ria and on  its adjoining footbridges
near water mills as well as discovering the charm of its small port before exploring its small streets dotted with brightly
colored  flowers  complemented by  typical shops  decorated with  traditions, particularly gastronomic, like the Famous
Pont  Aven  Pancakes as  well  as its art  galleries which  are the  living  expression  of its  cultural  vitality  and its world 
renowned  reputation.Benefiting  from ease  of access  and location in  addition to the  variety of its  landscapes and its 
colors which makes it pleasant to admire in autumn when the pastel tones are  significant, Pont Aven fascinated artists 
from the beginning of  the 19th  century as  shown by  paintings and  lithographs dating  from 1830 but it was not until  
1864 that a  young  American  painter artist  named Henry Bacon,  during a stopover in Pont Aven  during a stagecoach journey between Concarneau and Quimperlé, was seduced by this pretty village and  gave this city its true reference in 
the artistic world and cultural which then  saw other young  American painters from  Philadelphia such as Charles Way, Earl  Shinn, Howard  Roberts in  parallel with other  artists from Great  Britain  such as  Lewis  and Carraway  as  well as
French painter Jean Léon Gerome, also a teacher at the École des Beaux Arts in  Paris, who encouraged his  students to
to go to Pont Aven during their summer holidays like many  other painters  who stayed  in this unusual place which also includes hotels with shimmering architecture such as the Hôtels des Voyageurs or Du Lion D'Or as well as to stay at the Gloanec pension or at the Manoir de Levazen in natural, welcoming and delightful spaces which still persist today.

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Natural Spaces Full of Emotions


Curiosity combined with reputation meant that from 1880 onwards a second wave of painters frequented Pont Aven

notably from the summer of 1886 to the arrival of the talented Paul Gauguin which still remains today a great signature of French painting, also taking into account in particular  the creation of the school in the same year   from Pont Aven  bringing together under the same banner the different painters artists who regularly come to paint and whose leaders

Gauguin's works such as The Yellow Christ, The Green Christ or even The Beautiful Angela are world-renowned and appreciated alongside other paintings expressing the artist's sensitivity and talent during the years 1886 to 1895 when he stayed in Pont Aven, all interspersed with a very short stay in Tahiti between 1891 and 1892 before leaving France for

good in July 1895 to live in the Marquesas Islands.As part of European Heritage Days on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21

September 2025 and like every year ,The Pont Aven museum allows you to discover numerous works presented, such as those of Gauguin or Sérusier, alongside the great history of the city of painters, also integrating the particularities and

secrets of their creation paintings that go from the canvas to the pictorial layer as it is also interesting to follow a path

on the edges of the Aven which leads to the Bois d'Amour which was a place of inspiration like the chapel of Trémalo

located further to the south of the city before returning to the beach of Port Manech which, decorated in particular with shimmering white wooden cabins, inspired many of artists. This territory is fascinating because it delights both nature lovers, history enthusiasts as its heritage and past are rich and diverse and artists in love diverse and artists in love with

colors and their varieties expressed both in broad daylight and in the sunrise or sunset over its rich and architectural

heritage and its natural spaces full of emotions which make Pont Aven and ideal and unforgettable holidays destination.


Report: Gabriel PAGE

Photos Credit: Gabriel PAGE / Getty Images

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