Cosmopolitanism and the Gilded Age

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)

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

Oil on canvas, 17 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (43.8 x 26.0 cm). Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.132

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.

Cosmopolitanism and the Gilded Age

Childe Hassam (1859–1935)

Une Averse—rue Bonaparte, 1887

William Merritt Chase (1849–1916)

Morning at Breakwater, Shinnecock, c. 1897

Edmund C. Tarbell (1862–1938)

In the Orchard, 1891

Mary Cassatt (1844–1926)

Summertime, 1894

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)

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

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)

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

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)

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

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)

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

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)

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

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)

Note in Red: The Siesta, by 1884

Joseph H. Boston (1860–1954)

From Shore to Shore, 1885

George de Forest Brush (1855–1941)

The Weaver, 1889

Theodore Wendel (1859–1932)

Brook, Giverny, 1887

Irving Ramsey Wiles (1861–1948)

On the Veranda, 1887

Charles Courtney Curran (1861–1942)

Lotus Lilies, 1888

Dennis Miller Bunker (1861–1890)

Brittany Town Morning, Larmor, 1884

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)

Dennis Miller Bunker Painting at Calcot, 1888

William Merritt Chase (1849–1916)

Spring Flowers (Peonies), by 1889

Childe Hassam (1859–1935)

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

John Leslie Breck (1860–1899)

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

Guy Rose (1867–1925)

Giverny Hillside, c. 1890–91

Childe Hassam (1859–1935)

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

Theodore Robinson (1852–1896)

Blossoms at Giverny, 1891–92

Lilla Cabot Perry (1848–1933)

Self-Portrait, c. 1889–96

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937)

Les Invalides, Paris, 1896

John H. Twachtman (1853–1902)

Winter Landscape, c. 1890–1900

Willard Metcalf (1858–1925)

Havana Harbor, 1902

Thomas Eakins (1844–1916)

Portrait of Thomas J. Eagan, 1907

Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851–1938)

Portrait of a Lady Holding a Rose, 1912

Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874–1939)

Lady in a Garden, c. 1912