A land with plenty to see
From the 1800s onwards, train connections meant that many people escaped Paris and came to stay in Finistère. Seduced by this rich and vibrant culture, they were fascinated by the scenes of daily life in a region that was still very authentic.
The Finistère that they saw inspired them through the aesthetics of its traditional dress, towns, ports, beaches, countryside and monuments; a Finistère of legends that captured their artistic imagination. Luminais painted the town of Ys, a mythical town lost to the waves like a Breton Atlantis; Yan’ Dargent listened to local tales in the evenings and recreated them on canvas; Paul Sérusier imagined fairies and pixies haunting the mystical forest of Huelgoat.
This inspirational Finistère was simultaneously authentic and innovative, constantly evolving, becoming the birthplace of the Pont-Aven School and a new artistic aesthetic. Over time, this wild, western tip of Brittany has continued to inspire contemporary painters such as François Dilasser, Jean Le Merdy, René Quéré and Paul Bloas. Finistère continues to illustrate and reinvent itself through the arts, including urban arts, which are steadily gaining ground
Morlaix, capital of street art
As part of the Painters’ Trail, embark on a unique artistic journey in Morlaix Bay to discover the area’s street art. For several years now, Morlaix has partnered with the group Takad Grafan (graffiti zone) to open up their heritage, buildings and alleyways to urban art.
The first edition of Morlaix Arts Tour took place in 2019 and since then, visitors have been able to follow a route through the town to discover around fifty urban frescoes. Some are huge, like the one by Wild Drawing entitled ‘Message in a bottle’, which covers the entire gable of a building and was voted the most beautiful fresco in France in 2022. Other works are more intimate, tucked away in the nooks and crannies of narrow alleyways.
In summer, the tourist office offers guided tours to help you track down all these frescoes. Over the years, the popularity of these contemporary, open-air works of art has spread beyond the borders of Morlaix. The artists have displayed their talents on the walls of several neighbouring towns: Plouezoc’h, Plougonven, Plouigneau, Saint-Martin-des-Champs and Lanmeur.
Don’t miss one of the finest works on the circuit, painted in 2022 in the offshore fortress, the Château du Taureau. Leon Keer’s fresco is 15 metres long and 3 metres wide, depicting a sad-looking porcelain girl dressed in a blue dress, who seems to be trapped in this island fortress on the open sea. It’s a unique contemporary work of art to enhance our heritage.
Brest, art in motion
The link between Brest and art goes back a long way. In the 1600s and 1700s, the kings of France commissioned paintings of the port of Brest to illustrate the country’s maritime military power. Then, by the late 1800s, many travelling painters arrived in Brest, fascinated by its immense harbour with its deep vistas and the large prison that housed convicts from 1749 to 1858.
The modern city of Brest offers an undeniable variety and artistic richness that continues to evolve. Start your visit at the Musée des Beaux-Arts fine-arts museum on Rue Traverse, not far from Rue de Siam.
The iconic architecture of Le Comoedia once housed a theatre then an art-house cinema, and was sadly abandoned for many years, but since 2019, it has been home to a contemporary art exhibition centre and sales gallery. The building alone is worth the trip, with its white-and-gold architecture in an Art-Deco spirit. It hosts 3 or 4 exhibitions a year, while the gallery showcases contemporary artists from Brittany and beyond.
Next take the cable car over the River Penfeld to the Recouvrance district where you’ll find the Ateliers des Capucins. The largest covered hall in Europe, this was once a convent for Capuchin monks (hence the name), then a shipbuilding site that built some of the French Navy’s most iconic vessels in the 1900s. Now it’s a lively community space open to everyone, with a media library, restaurant, coworking and leisure spaces, plus areas for art exhibitions. Make a detour to Rue de Saint-Malo, one of the rare streets in Brest to have survived the wars, giving you a glimpse into the original city. Today, in this little suburb of traditional Breton houses and irregular sandstone cobbles, the granite walls are covered with colourful street-art frescoes. Back on the Left Bank, in the Saint-Martin district, don’t miss La Passerelle contemporary art centre. Housed in what was once a disused 4,000 m² warehouse, La Passerelle has been here since 1988 and hosts around ten exhibitions a year as well as meetings and debates.
Major artists exhibited in Landerneau
Thirty minutes out of Brest, the small town of Landerneau hosts major exhibitions every year at the Hélène et Édouard Leclerc Trust, housed in the former Capuchin convent. Since it opened in 2012, this centre has become a must-see venue for contemporary art lovers and more than a million visitors have already come to admire works by Miro, Chagall, Dubuffet, Picasso, Henry Moore, Enki Bilal and Giacometti.
While you’re here, take the time to discover the small town of Landerneau, nicknamed the City of the Moon, after the Lord of Rohan chose the symbol for the town. Nestling at the end of the harbour and with the River Elorn running through it, Landerneau is home to typical timber-framed houses and beautiful dwellings that were built by wealthy shipowners. One thing you mustn’t miss is the famous Rohan bridge, which is listed as an Historic Monument and is one of the last inhabited bridges in France.
Châteauneuf-du-Faou, adopted home of Paul Sérusier
The town of Châteauneuf-du-Faou is perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking one of the most beautiful meanders of the River Aulne in central Finistère. In 1891, painter Paul Sérusier was aged 27 when he discovered this small community for the first time. It became an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the artist, and he stayed here until the end of his life in 1927.
Follow in his footsteps along the Painters’ Trail on a circuit that takes around 1 ½ hours. It offers a chance to immerse yourself in Sérusier’s work, at times bright and colourful, and at times dark and mysterious, reflecting the landscapes of the Aulne Valley that so inspired him.
The tour begins on the Notre-Dame-des-Portes esplanade near the market square. It takes you to Sérusier house, the wash-house and Pontadig valley, before ending at the church square where you’ll find a bust of the artist.
Camaret-sur-Mer and the artists’ quarter
Camaret’s charm and authentic character have long attracted and inspired artists, particularly sites such as the Vauban Tower, Rocamadour Chapel, the Lagatjar megaliths and the ruins of Saint-Pol-Roux manor house. The town’s rich historical heritage is matched only by its exceptional location: to the east is the bay, calm and restful, while to the west is the Iroise Sea, its blue horizon stretching seemingly forever.
This is an extraordinary setting that has inspired some of the greatest names. Théodore Gudin, official painter to the French Navy, painted the port in 1830. Then, in the late 1800s, Eugène Boudin regularly visited the peninsula and in Camaret, he was particularly fond of painting the light on the harbour, its cloudy, mobile, fluid and changing atmosphere. Paul Sérusier, Charles Filiger, Charles Cottet, Henri Rivière, Jim Sévellec, Marcel Sauvaige and Georges Lacombe also spent time here, capturing this little maritime town on their canvases.
Today, you’ll find more than thirty artists exhibiting here, happy to welcome visitors to their studios and galleries.
Douarnenez, a town of artists
Famous for its sardine-fishing heritage, Douarnenez has also been a magnet for artists since the 1800s. With the bay as a backdrop, its cobbled streets and three harbours, the town has inspired great names to stay and even live here, including Boudin, Renoir, Maufra , Picasso and Picabia. The town’s artistic soul is still in evidence now, as you’ll appreciate when you stroll through the centre, the covered market and the narrow streets leading down to the ports. You’ll find several art galleries and craft workshops for artists including the Iroise gallery, the Plein Jour gallery, the imagin’art workshop, Kumül and Le Trait en Creux workshop.
Douarnenez has perhaps been best illustrated by the surrealist painter Yves Tanguy. Born in Paris in 1900 to a father from Brest and a mother from Locronan, the painter felt viscerally Breton and he regularly came to stay on his family’s land. His entire body of work is inspired by his childhood memories and his escapades in Douarnenez Bay with his friend, the poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert.
In Yves Tanguy’s paintings, we can see the radiant light of the bay, the atmospheric blue-green, the mist, the sea and the great swathes of sand. When he died in 1955, Pierre Matisse (son of painter Henri Matisse) scattered Tanguy’s ashes in accordance with his last wishes, in the bay that had inspired him so much throughout his life.
Quimper, capital of Breton culture
The historic capital of French Cornwall, Quimper has been awarded the label of Town of Art and History. You can see why as you stroll through the city, whose colourful timber-framed houses are an integral part of Quimper’s charm. On Place Saint-Corentin, at the foot of the majestic Saint-Corentin cathedral, visit the fine-arts museum that opened in 1872. It boasts one of the richest collections of any regional museum in France and spans more than five centuries of artistic creation, with European paintings including Rubens, Fragonard, Van Mol and Di Fredi, Breton-inspired paintings and a collection of works by the Pont-Aven School.
This museum also pays tribute to the novelist and painter Max Jacob – born in Quimper and a regular visitor – with a rich collection of drawings and gouaches.
A few steps away, adjoining the cathedral, you’ll find the Musée Départemental Breton, created in 1846 and housed in the former Bishops’ Palace. The permanent exhibition immerses you in the heart and soul of Finistère’s heritage through a collection of archaeology, ancient art and decorative arts. There’s also a collection of goldsmith and silversmith work, traditional costumes and their representation in painting and sculpture.
In the footsteps of Gauguin, from Pont-Aven to Le Pouldu
This modest town nestling in the Aven estuary was suddenly popularised by visiting Americans and enjoyed unprecedented fame thanks to the painters of the Pont-Aven School. Gauguin was its leader, alongside Paul Sérusier, Emile Bernard, Charles Filiger, Maxime Maufra and Henry Moret.
At the end of the 1800s, Paul Gauguin abandoned Impressionism and aspired to a more poetic style of painting. Brittany – particularly Pont-Aven and Le Pouldu – seemed to him the ideal places to perfect his art. The rocky riverbeds, the countless mills, thatched cottages, chapels, bustling markets, traditional costumes and above all the special quality of the light here were all an inexhaustible source of inspiration. He was followed by many artists in search of a change of scenery and an escape from Paris, and so was born the artistic movement of the Nabis and the Pont-Aven School.
Naturally, this ‘City of Painters’ has its own museum, opened in 1985 to trace the vibrant artistic history of Pont-Aven since the 1860s. The museum boasts a large collection of works, including paintings by Gauguin. While you’re here, take the time to stroll through the town along Promenade Xavier-Grall, which leads you from one riverbank to the other. The charm of the little town and its picturesque landscapes will leave you breathless, and you’ll soon understand why it has inspired so many painters. Every nook and cranny is a reminder of Pont-Aven’s rich artistic heritage. As you wander through the narrow streets, try to count the number of art galleries and you’ll probably be amazed – there are more than 60!