Ferdinand du Puigaudeau was born in Nantes on April 04, 1864. He began to paint in 1882 but only began to form his individual style when traveling in Italy and Tunisia. His earliest known works date from 1886. That year he moves to Pont-Aven where he becomes friends with Charles Laval and Paul Gauguin, with whom he plans to go with to Panama and Martinique. Unfortunately, these plans are interupted by military service. In 1889 he travels to Belgium where he associates with members of the Group of Twenty. The next year he presents one of his works at the Salon de la Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. (to be continued.)