 Theo van Gogh had forwarded Octave Maus'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 intended to buy one of his paintings.Gauguin wrote to his friend Emile Schuffenecker with the good news of his invitation from Les XX.