Title: The Talisman, the River Aven at the Bois d’Amour
Date: 1888
Movement: Synthetism
Media: Oil on wood
Location: Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France
The Talisman is painted in oils on the lid of a cigar box under the direction of Paul Gauguin. Gauguin encouraged Sérusier to approach nature from a subjective point of view. The result is an abstract painting of a reality perceived by the artist with flat areas of bold colour. Elements of the landscape are recognizable: the path, the riverbank, trees, and the mill. On returning to Paris, Sérusier showed his fellow young painters, the future Nabis, what was to become their ‘Talisman’.
Artist: Paul Sérusier
Date of Birth: 9 November 1864, Paris, France
French
Died: 7 October 1927, Morlaix, France
