La fin du jour (The End of the Day)

The son of a wealthy perfume and glove manufacturer, Paul Sérusier chose to settle near the Breton peasants idealized by artists as being mystical and uncorrupted. Here Sérusier evoked the simplicity and isolation of their lives. His short, rhythmic strokes suggest the repetition of their labors, made clear by the figure's exhaustion. Before publication, Sérusier evidently requested the same canary yellow paper color used by his teacher Paul Gauguin when exhibiting his own images of Brittany in 1889.