Restoration of ‘Breton Dance’ by Georges Lacombe

A singular acquisition

Thanks to the recent acquisition of the woodcarving Breton Dance (1893-1894) by the French artist Georges Lacombe (1868-1916), the museum’s collection has been enriched with an experimental carving.

The work enables the museum to offer its visitors a better understanding of the innovations in sculpture at the end of the 19th century. This is also the first work by this artist to be added to our collection. Lacombe was a versatile artist and part of the Nabis group.

The museum also acquired Lacombe’s painting Red Pines (1894-1895) at the same time as Breton Dance.

Breton Dance

The scene in Breton Dance is a prime example of what at the time was considered the ‘pure’ and ‘unspoiled’ life of people living in the countryside – a subject that fascinated Van Gogh and his contemporaries.

Lacombe depicted a traditional dance from Brittany, which was still commonly performed at the end of the 19th century. On the panel, the dancers form a so-called frieze against a line of decorative waves. Two musicians play traditional Breton instruments. The old man in the bottom left adds a certain mystery to the scene.

Lacombe exhibited this work in 1894, making it one of the first works with which he presented himself as an artist.  

Lacombe the woodcarver

Breton Dance clearly shows the artist’s great skill. Lacombe selected a panel of walnut wood made up of three planks, glued together. The panel has been carved in bas-relief, which means that the carving in the wood is relatively shallow.

Lacombe used a gouge and hammer to carve out the scene, deliberately leaving the gouge marks visible. He used a branding technique called pyrography for the details in the background at the top and the row of five-fingered plants along the bottom border.

A transparent layer of colour in red, black and possibly white was applied to the clothes and hair of the Breton figures. The entire surface was also covered with a transparent, glossy coat. The panel has a wooden frame with a brown finish with a soft sheen.

Condition before treatment

When the work was acquired, the top glue joint in the panel was open, and a splinter was missing from the top left-hand corner. It is likely that an attempt was previously made to reglue the joint, but that the restoration failed to level the planks.

The protruding elements were therefore chiselled off, which is clear to see on the musicians on the right. Remarkably enough, this damage is also visible on a plaster cast of the work in the collection of Musée d’Orsay, which the Lacombe family had made following the artist’s death in 1916.

The current glossy finishing coat may have been added to the carving after the plaster copy was made. The frame was also quite badly damaged around the mitered joints, it was being held together with nails.

Restoration

In recent months, the woodcarving has been restored with the greatest care at the workshop of Jan Paul Folkers, wood specialists based in Winterswijk, the Netherlands.

Regluing the joint proved to be a challenge, as the two parts did not fit well together The panel was positioned vertically on a frame, to allow free access to the front and back. Once the joint was reglued, blocks of limewood were added to the back for extra strength.

Originally three vertical oak clamps had been screwed to the back of the panel. To allow the panel to move freely with variations in relative humidity the screwholes were altered into slotted holes.

A wax product with exactly the right colour and lustre was found in Paris to match the restored parts with the original finish on the frame. The woodcarving was then buffed up with a soft cloth.

Further research

Further technical research is currently being conducted on the work in the Van Gogh Museum Conservation Studio, in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Agency. This research focuses on the transparent colours and glossy finish of Lacombe’s carving, and of painted objects by his contemporary Emile Bernard.

Lacombe’s Breton Dance will go on display in the museum’s permanent collection on 26 January 2022.

Breton Dance and Red Pines were acquired with the generous support of the VriendenLoterij.