Paul Gauguin's exhibit at Les XX, 1889 was the first important display of his works, and added to the recognition that he had begun to receive in 1888. The annual exhibition was organized by Les XX

Les XX

Les XX was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years 'Les Vingt' , as they called themselves, held an annual exhibition of their art; each year twenty international artists were also...

, and participation was by invitation only. Gauguin's exhibit comprised paintings from Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

, Britanny and Arles

Arles

Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....

. Many of these can be identified easily, but for several items this discussion is not yet closed.

Background

Since Gauguin's return from Martinique, end of November 1887, he found support in Theo van Gogh

Theo van Gogh (art dealer)

Theodorus "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch art dealer. He was the younger brother of Vincent van Gogh, and Theo's unfailing financial and emotional support allowed his brother to devote himself entirely to painting...

 who showed Gauguin's recent work from the Caribics from December 1887. Since then, Gauguin evidently considered Theo van Gogh to be his dealer and promotor, and parallelly, Gauguin kept in touch with Theo's brother Vincent

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...

. When Gauguin finally accepted the proposition to live and work side to side with Vincent in Arles

Arles

Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....

, he first sent a batch of recent work to Theo in Paris, who exhibited it together with the first batch of paintings sent from Arles, in November 1888. Around this time, Gauguin also received the invitation to exhibit with Les XX in Brussels, in February 1889.

Theo van Gogh had forwarded Octave Maus

Octave Maus

Octave Maus was a Belgian art critic, writer, and lawyer.Maus worked with fellow writer/lawyer Edmond Picard, and they together with Victor Arnould and Eugène Robert founded the weekly L'Art moderne in 1881....

's invitation to Gauguin when Gauguin was already in Arles. Around the same time Gauguin received news that a collector named Depuis had agreed to purchase Breton Girls in a Ring (provided the artist made a minor modification), that two other of his canvasses had definitely sold, and — perhaps most significantly for Gauguin — that Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...

 intended to buy one of his paintings. Gauguin wrote to his friend Emile Schuffenecker

Émile Schuffenecker

Émile Schuffenecker was a French Post-Impressionist artist, painter, art teacher and art collector. A friend of Paul Gauguin and Odilon Redon, and one of the first collectors of works by Vincent van Gogh, Schuffenecker was instrumental in establishing the Volpini exhibition, in 1889...

 with the good news of his invitation from Les XX. Shortly afterwards he received another invitation from Edouard Dujardin

Édouard Dujardin

Édouard Dujardin was a French writer, one of the early users of the stream of consciousness literary technique, exemplified by his 1888 novel Les Lauriers sont coupés.-Biography:...

 of La Revue Indépendante to exhibit in their rooms. Gauguin quickly rejected this invitation due to a review that had appeared in the Revue almost a year earlier; it had been written by Félix Fénéon

Félix Fénéon

Félix Fénéon was a Parisian anarchist and art critic during the late 19th century...

, and the artist had been described as grièche.

Gauguin's shipment from Pont-Aven

In the days preceding his depart for Arles, Gauguin probably shipped all of his work executed since his arrival in Pont-Aven to Theo van Gogh in Paris: the recent catalogue raisonné by Daniel Wildenstein

Daniel Wildenstein

Daniel Leopold Wildenstein was a French art dealer and scholar, as well as a leading thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder....

 lists more than fifty paintings, altogether. Six of these were later included in Gauguin's selection for Les XX, 1889.

Gauguin's shipments from Arles

November 13, Theo wrote to Gauguin that already two paintings were sold, and a third, la ronde de petites Bretonnes, would need a minor rework to be sold, too. About ten days later, this rework was done, and the painting ready to be shipped back to Paris, together with four paintings recently executed in Arles.

1° Les danseuses

2° un café de nuit

3° Paysage ou les trois grâces au temple de Vènus

4° Les cochons

5° Le vendange ou la pauvresse

Gauguin's second and final shipment from Arles coincided with his depart from Arles, end of December 1888. Evidently, he left only some minor studies back in the Yellow House - which he now offered Vincent van Gogh in exchange for the major version of the Sunflowers

Sunflowers (series of paintings)

Sunflowers are the subject of two series of still life paintings by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The earlier series executed in Paris in 1887 gives the flowers lying on the ground, while the second set executed a year later in Arles shows bouquets of sunflowers in a vase...

- and his "masques et gants d'armes". Vincent refused categorically. By this time, his brother had already acquired Gauguin's portrait of Vincent, The Painter of Sunflowers

The Painter of Sunflowers

The Painter of Sunflowers is a portrait of Vincent van Gogh by Paul Gauguin in December 1888. The portrait was painted when Gauguin visited in Arles. Van Gogh had asked him to come to Arles, because he wanted to start an art-colony there...

.

Gauguin's selection

Gauguin's selection
Image	Les XX 1889 catalogue entry	Notebook entry	Location
	1. Aux Mangos (Tropiques).	1 mangos Vangog (!)	Van Gogh Museum Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum is an art museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world.-Background:... , Amsterdam
|2. Conversation (Tropiques).	2 tropiques 600
|3. Paysage Breton.	3 Paysage Breton 2 femmes 500	Private collection Private collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works, usually a collection of art. If seen in a museum alongside a work or describing said work, it signifies that piece of art in a museum is not actually owned by that museum, but is on loan from an independent source. This source will...
	4. Breton et veau.	4 Breton et veau hiver 500	Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark... , Copenhagen
|5. Berger et bergère.	5 berger et bergère. 2 vo. 500	Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium , is one of the most famous museums in Belgium.-The museum:... , Brussels
|6. Lutteurs en herbe.	6 Lutteurs 500 (or 800)	Private collection Private collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works, usually a collection of art. If seen in a museum alongside a work or describing said work, it signifies that piece of art in a museum is not actually owned by that museum, but is on loan from an independent source. This source will...
	7. Vision du sermon.	7 vision du Sermon 1000	National Gallery of Scotland National Gallery of Scotland The National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, is the national art gallery of Scotland. An elaborate neoclassical edifice, it stands on The Mound, between the two sections of Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens... , Edinburgh
|8. En pleine chaleur.	8 En pleine chaleur 1000	Private collection Private collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works, usually a collection of art. If seen in a museum alongside a work or describing said work, it signifies that piece of art in a museum is not actually owned by that museum, but is on loan from an independent source. This source will...
|9. Misères humaines.	9 Misères humaines 1500	Ordrupgaard Ordrupgaard Ordrupgaard is a state-owned art museum situated near Jægersborg Dyrehave, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The museum houses one of Northern Europe’s most considerable collections of Danish and French art from the19th and beginning of the 20th century.... , Charlottenlund
|10. Au presbytère.	10 Au presbytere (87) 500 (!)
|11. Le mas.	11 Les mas. 500 (!)
|12. "Vous y passerez, la belle!" (!)	12 Vous y passerez la belle 500 (!)	Ordrupgaard Ordrupgaard Ordrupgaard is a state-owned art museum situated near Jægersborg Dyrehave, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The museum houses one of Northern Europe’s most considerable collections of Danish and French art from the19th and beginning of the 20th century.... , Charlottenlund

The dispute on identification of the items included is still not finished.