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'''Paul Gauguin's exhibit at Les XX''' in 1889 was the first important display of [[Paul Gauguin]]'s works, and added to the recognition that he had begun to receive in 1888.  The annual exhibition was organized by [[Les XX]], and participation was by invitation only.  Gauguin's exhibit comprised paintings from [[Martinique]], [[Brittany]] and [[Arles]]. Many of these can be identified easily, but for several items the discussion is not yet closed.
==Background==
After Gauguin's return from Martinique at the end of November 1887, he found support in [[Theo van Gogh (art dealer)|Theo van Gogh]], who showed Gauguin's recent work from the Caribics from December 1887. Since then, Gauguin evidently considered Theo van Gogh to be his dealer and promoter, and Gauguin also kept in touch with Theo's brother [[Vincent van Gogh|Vincent]]. When Gauguin finally accepted the proposition to live and work side to side with Vincent in [[Arles]], he first sent a batch of recent work to Theo in Paris, who exhibited it together with the first batch of paintings sent from Arles, in November 1888. Around this time, Gauguin also received the invitation to exhibit with Les XX in Brussels, in February 1889.
Theo van Gogh had forwarded [[Octave Maus]]'s invitation to Gauguin when Gauguin was already in Arles.  Around the same time Gauguin received news that a collector named Depuis had agreed to purchase ''Breton Girls in a Ring'' (provided the artist made a minor modification), that two other of his canvasses had definitely sold, and — perhaps most significantly for Gauguin — that [[Edgar Degas]] intended to buy one of his paintings.  Gauguin wrote to his friend [[Emile Schuffenecker]] with the good news of his invitation from Les XX.  Shortly afterwards he received another invitation from [[Édouard Dujardin]] of ''[[La Revue Indépendante]]'' to exhibit in their rooms. Gauguin quickly rejected this invitation due to a review that had appeared in the ''Revue'' almost a year earlier; it had been written by [[Félix Fénéon]], and the artist had been described as ''grièche.''
===Gauguin's shipment from Pont-Aven===
In the days preceding his depart for Arles, Gauguin probably shipped all of his work executed since his arrival in Pont-Aven to Theo van Gogh in Paris: the recent ''[[catalogue raisonné]]'' by [[Daniel Wildenstein]] lists more than fifty paintings, altogether.<ref>Daniel Wildenstein (ed.) 2002, nos. 261–313</ref> Six of these were later included in Gauguin's selection for Les XX, 1889.
===Gauguin's shipments from Arles===
November 13, Theo wrote to Gauguin that already two paintings were sold, and a third, ''la ronde de petites Bretonnes'', would need a minor rework to be sold, too. About ten days later, this rework was done, and the painting ready to be shipped back to Paris, together with four paintings recently executed in Arles.<ref>The identification of this set never posed problems: see Daniel Wildenstein (ed.) 2002, nos. 296, 318, 314, 320, 317.</ref>
: ''1° Les danseuses''
: ''2° un café de nuit''
: ''3° Paysage ou les trois grâces au temple de Vènus''
: ''4° Les cochons''
: ''5° Le vendange ou la pauvresse''
<gallery>
Image:Paul Gauguin 032.jpg|''1° Les Danseuses''' (1888). [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington
Image:Paul Gauguin 072.jpg|''2° un café de nuit''' (1888).
Image:Paul Gauguin 085.jpg|''3° Paysage ou les trois grâces au temple de Vénus'' (1888). [[Musée d'Orsay]], Paris
</gallery>
Gauguin's second and final shipment from Arles coincided with his depart from Arles, end of December 1888. Evidently, he left only some minor studies back in the Yellow House – which he now offered Vincent van Gogh in exchange for the major version of the ''[[Sunflowers (series of paintings)|Sunflowers]]'' – and his "masques et gants d'armes". Vincent refused categorically. By this time, his brother had already acquired Gauguin's portrait of Vincent, ''[[The Painter of Sunflowers]]''.
==Gauguin's selection==
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|colspan="100%" align="center" bgcolor="#ffffbb"|'''Gauguin's selection'''
|-
!Image!!Les XX 1889 catalogue entry!!Notebook entry!!Location
|-
|[[Image:Paul Gauguin 087.jpg|100px]]||''1. Aux Mangos (Tropiques).''||''1  mangos  Vangog'' (!)||[[Van Gogh Museum]], Amsterdam
|-
|||''2. Conversation (Tropiques).''||''2  tropiques  600''||
|-
|||''3. Paysage Breton.''||''3  Paysage Breton 2 femmes  500''||[[Private collection]]
|-
|[[Image:Paul Gauguin 076.jpg|100px]]||''4. Breton et veau.''||''4  Breton et veau  hiver  500''||[[Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek]], Copenhagen
|-
|||''5. Berger et bergère.''||''5  berger et bergère. 2 vo.  500''||[[Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium]], Brussels
|-
|||''6. Lutteurs en herbe.''||''6 Lutteurs  500'' (or 800)||[[Private collection]]
|-
|[[Image:Paul Gauguin 137.jpg|100px]]||''7. Vision du sermon.''||''7  vision du Sermon  1000''||[[National Gallery of Scotland]], Edinburgh
|-
|||''8. En pleine chaleur.''||''8  En pleine chaleur  1000''||[[Private collection]]
|-
|||''9. Misères humaines.''||''9  Misères humaines  1500''||[[Ordrupgaard]], Charlottenlund
|-
|||''10. Au presbytère.''||''10  Au presbytere (87)  500'' (!)||
|-
|||''11. Le mas.''||''11 Les mas.  500'' (!)||
|-
|||''12. "Vous y passerez, la belle!"  (!)''||''12  Vous y passerez la belle  500'' (!)||[[Ordrupgaard]], Charlottenlund
|-
|}
The dispute on identification of the items included continues.
===See also===
* [[Vincent van Gogh's display at Les XX, 1890]]
==Resources==
===Footnotes===
<references/>
===References===
* Delevoy, Robert L. (ed.): ''Les XX, Bruxelles. Catalogue des dix expositions annuelles'', Reprint:  Centre International pour l'Etude de XIXe Siècle, Brussels 1981 (no ISBN)
* Roskill, Mark: ''Van Gogh, Gauguin and French Painting of the 1880s: A Catalogue raisonné of Key Works'', University Microfilms, Ann Arbor 1970
* Wildenstein, Daniel (ed.): ''Gauguin. A Savage in the Making. Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings (1873–1888)'', Skira editore, Milan & Wildenstein Institute, Paris 2002  {{ISBN|88-8491-137-0}}
{{Paul Gauguin}}
[[Category:Paul Gauguin|Exhibit at Les XX, 1889, The]]