Seiz Breur

Seiz Breur ('seven brothers' in Breton) was an artistic movement founded in 1923 in Brittany to create a modern form of Breton art from the best of its traditions. The young illustrator Jeanne Malivel had revived wood engraving to illustrate L'Histoire de Notre Bretagne (1922); her work drew together the painter-engraver René-Yves Creston, his wife Suzanne Creston, and the architect James Bouillé, who met at a pardon in Le Folgoët and resolved to collaborate. The name refers to a folk tale Malivel published, not to the number of members - at its height the group, organized as the Unvaniezh Seiz Breur, counted about fifty members spanning craft, design, literature, and music. It worked in wood carving, faience, stained glass, ironwork, embroidery, and typography, showed in Paris in 1925 and 1937, and issued a thirteen-point manifesto in 1940 before dissolving in 1947-48; its memory is shadowed by the collaborationism of some members during the war.

Defining characteristics

• Revived wood engraving and woodcarving in bold, simplified forms
• Celtic and Breton motifs - interlace, legends, saints, the Ankou - stylized for modern use
• Flat, forceful pattern drawn from folk art and costume design
• Craft media elevated to fine art: faience, stoneware, stained glass, ironwork, embroidery
• Clean modernist stylization of rural and maritime life

Key figures

• Jeanne Malivel (1895-1926) — Illustrator whose wood engravings for L'Histoire de Notre Bretagne sparked the movement
• René-Yves Creston (1898-1964) — Painter, engraver, and ethnographer who co-founded and led the group
• James Bouillé (1894-1945) — Architect who co-founded Seiz Breur at Le Folgoët in 1923

Example works

• L'Histoire de Notre Bretagne (illustrations) — Jeanne Malivel (1922)
• Programme of Seiz Breur (manifesto in 13 points) — Unvaniezh Seiz Breur (1940)

Sources

• Seiz Breur - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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