After a period of study at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Gustave Loiseau worked in Pont-Aven in 1890 and then with Gauguin whom he met in 1894. He also knew Maufra, Henri Moret and Émile Bernard. He travelled throughout the whole of France, covering Brittany, the coasts of Cape Fréhel, St-Briac, Perros-Guirec, Douarnenez and Belle-Île as far as Pornic, Normandy, the Eure and Finistère.After being influenced by the compartmentalism of Gauguin, Loiseau moved towards Post-Impressionism in 1895, influenced by Pissarro and then by the Divisionism of Seurat. Although he retained from compartmentalism an almost geometric construction in his paintings, he brought to Post-Impressionism a more fluid touch criss-crossed with a trellis pattern which is what gives his work its individuality. In some of his landscapes and seascapes he daringly juxtaposed greatly contrasting splashes of colour not commonly used, which was very reminiscent of Henri E. Cross. He travelled widely, bringing a degree of variety to his paintings. However, he remains principally an interpreter of Paris scenes, the cliffs of Dieppe and the Dordogne Valley.

From 1893 Loiseau regularly exhibited his work at the Salon des Indépendants and at the exhibitions of Impressionist and Symbolist painters, and from 1895 showed work at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. From 1890 to 1896 his work was also represented in Post-Impressionist exhibitions and from 1903 to 1920 he exhibited his work every year at the Salon d'Automne. In 2003 his work was represented posthumously in the collective thematic exhibition Between Heaven and Earth: Camille Pissarro and the Painters of the Oise Valley ( Entre ciel et terre, Camille Pissarro et les peintres de la vallée de l'Oise) at the Musée Tavet-Delacour in Pontoise. Loiseau's work was also shown in solo exhibitions: the Salon des Indépendants devoted a retrospective to 14 of his works in 1936; the Musée Pissarro in Pontoise held an exhibition dedicated to Loiseau's works in 1981; and in 2001 the museum of Pont-Aven mounted the retrospective Gustave Loiseau and Brittany ( Gustave Loiseau et la Bretagne).

Museum and Gallery Holdings

Geneva (Petit Palais): Green Rocks (1893, oil on canvas); After the Rain in Pont-Aven (1923, oil on canvas)

Pont-Aven: Seascape; Rue de Concarneau in Pont-Aven (1926, oil on canvas)

Rennes (MBA): Jas Point at Cape Fréhel (1904, oil on canvas)