Rue Jouvenet in Rouen

Following the financial crash of 1882, he decided to leave his job as a stockbroker, which had provided him with a comfortable living, to dedicate himself entirely to his new passion, painting. He made his home in Rouen, where he joined Camille Pissarro, a friend of his mentor who had introduced him to Impressionism.

In 1883, several reasons prompted the artist to move to Rouen, where Pissarro, who had guided him in his approach to Impressionism, was living at the time. Gauguin had just lost his job and had decided, at the age of thirty-five and already the father of five children, to devote himself entirely to his art. The cost of living in the capital was too high to support his family, and Gauguin also hoped that by moving to Rouen, he would find a new clientele for his paintings. "Gauguin hopes, by isolating himself," Pissarro wrote to the collector Eugène Murer, "to establish his career, and he relies on his friends and acquaintances to help him win the favor of art enthusiasts [...]. »