Cosmopolitanism and the Gilded Age

Breton Woman with a Basket, Study for “En route pour la pêche” and “Fishing for Oysters at Cancale”, 1877
Object-John Singer Sargent, (four) Study for En route pour la pêche and Fishing for Oysters at Cancale
In 1877, early in his career, the American expatriate artist John Singer Sargent spent the summer painting in the picturesque Breton fishing town of Cancale. His intention was to make sketches for his first major outdoor subject, which would command attention in important exhibitions in France and the United States. To suit the different audiences, Sargent painted two slightly varied versions of the scene, one for Paris titled En route pour la pêche (Setting Out to Fish) (1878, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC) and a smaller version called Fishing for Oysters at Cancale (1878, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), which may have begun as a preparatory sketch for the larger work. Using fluid, animated brushwork, he painted these sketches of individual figures on-site and worked from them to create the two finished compositions in his studio. A contemporary interest in themes of peasant life, especially fisher-folk, determined his choice of subject.
Learn more about the individual sketches for these two paintings on the Terra Foundation website.
Breton Woman with a Basket, Study for “En route pour la pêche” and “Fishing for Oysters at Cancale”, 1877
Cosmopolitanism and the Gilded Age

Une Averse—rue Bonaparte, 1887

Morning at Breakwater, Shinnecock, c. 1897

In the Orchard, 1891

Summertime, 1894

Breton Woman with a Basket, Study for “En route pour la pêche” and “Fishing for Oysters at Cancale”, 1877

Breton Girl with a Basket, Study for “En route pour la pêche” and “Fishing for Oysters at Cancale”, 1877

Girl on the Beach, Study for “En route pour la pêche” and “Fishing for Oysters at Cancale”, 1877

Young Boy on the Beach, Study for “En route pour la pêche” and “Fishing for Oysters at Cancale”, 1877

The Zattere: Harmony in Blue and Brown, c. 1879

Note in Red: The Siesta, by 1884

From Shore to Shore, 1885

The Weaver, 1889

Brook, Giverny, 1887

On the Veranda, 1887

Lotus Lilies, 1888

Brittany Town Morning, Larmor, 1884

Dennis Miller Bunker Painting at Calcot, 1888

Spring Flowers (Peonies), by 1889

Horse Drawn Cabs at Evening, New York, c. 1890

Garden at Giverny (In Monet's Garden), c. 1887–91

Giverny Hillside, c. 1890–91

Horticulture Building, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893

Blossoms at Giverny, 1891–92

Self-Portrait, c. 1889–96

Les Invalides, Paris, 1896

Winter Landscape, c. 1890–1900

Havana Harbor, 1902

Portrait of Thomas J. Eagan, 1907

Portrait of a Lady Holding a Rose, 1912

Lady in a Garden, c. 1912