Ar Zon Amzer Nevez

Having died at the age of thirty-three, before his paintings could be widely exhibited, Walter Chetwook-Aiken left just five large canvases and a number of chalk drawings. Each portrays his interest in Brittany. Born of Anglo-Irish descent in Bristol, the artist studied in Paris from 1890-1893, where he worked alongside Henri Matisse. Like Matisse he absorbed the new revolutionary movements in French art: the moody, naturalist style of Bastien-Lepage, and, in particular, the works executed en plein air by the impressionists. Moving to Brittany, Chetwood-Aiken found his subject matter in the cultural separateness of a celtic-speaking Breton people.

A Song to Spring portrays seven young women beneath a blossoming fruit tree. The profusion of blossoms and the rhythm of the bonnets accentuate the almost hypnotic quality of this composition. Dressed in traditional Breton costume, the women are arranged across the canvas as on a frieze. Their distinctive white collars and headdresses create decorative arabesques, an exotic effect that recalls in emotion and mood, canvases of local women painted by Gauguin after his arrival in Brittany, in 1886.

Video tour from the exhibit opening at the Yale Center for British Arts, September 1997 Collector Brian Burns discusses Walter Chetwood-Aiken and his painting style watch the video [37 seconds] Each video clip above requires the RealPlayer, available at http://www.real.com. To view the video, just click on the links above. Downloading and installation instructions are also available.