Fishing for Oysters at Cancale
1878 Museum of Fine Arts Boston
About this artwork
This oil on canvas painting depicts a group of women and children gathering oysters along the shoreline of Cancale, France. It was one of the first major works by Sargent to garner public attention at the Paris Salon.
Did you know?
Sargent painted this work in the summer of 1878 while visiting the fishing village of Cancale in Brittany. He submitted a larger, more finished version of this scene to the 1878 Paris Salon, which helped establish his reputation as a brilliant young talent in the international art scene. This specific version is a smaller, more spontaneous oil sketch that reveals his masterful handling of light and brushwork.
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Fishing for Oysters at Cancale
John Singer Sargent, 1878
