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The Talisman

In The Talisman (1888), Paul Sérusier distills the Breton landscape into bold, flat planes of pure color. Painted under Paul Gauguin’s guidance at Pont-Aven, this small oil on wood, measuring just 27 x 21.5 cm—transforms a riverside scene into a poetic abstraction. Vermilion reds, ultramarine blues, and golden yellows replace naturalistic tones, capturing the emotional essence rather than the literal appearance of the Bois d’Amour. This radical approach marked the genesis of the Nabis movement, with the painting becoming its emblematic icon. Now housed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, The Talisman invites viewers into a meditative exploration of color and form. This work can be seen at [The Musée d’Orsay, Paris,orsay.fr/en/exhibitions/serusiers-talisman-prophecy-colour-196079]

Duration: 00:02:17

Categories: Slow Art ,Modern Art

Tags: paul, serusier, talisman, 16_2308_serusier_thetalisman_orsay_0217_p14.mp4 paul sérusier sojourned in pont-aven during the summer of 1888. on his returning to paris, he showed his young fellow painters, the future nabis (prophets in hebrew), what was to become their talisman. a close observation of the painting allows one to recognise certain elements of the landscape represented: the wood, the transversal path, the row of beech trees on the river bank, and the mill, at the back, on the right. each of these elements is a stain of color. this masterpiece is now located in the musée d’orsay in paris, france.