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

A study for one or both of two related paintings of Breton fisherfolk, John Singer Sargent's Breton Woman with a Basket captures a woman in peasant costume posed on the beach with her right hand on her hip and her left arm extended across a shallow basket propped against her waist. Filling the narrow vertical space of the canvas, the full-length figure is set against a broad expanse of beach that almost fills the background, the high horizon culminating in bright fair-weather sky. The woman glances at the viewer, frowning as if against the glare. In the near background stands the sketchy figure of a boy looking out toward the sea.

At the start of his brilliant career, Sargent spent a productive two months during the summer of 1877 in the picturesque Breton fishing town of Cancale, on the northwest coast of France. His aim was to make sketches for an important work, his first major outdoor subject, which would command attention in important exhibitions in Paris and the United States. To suit the different audiences, Sargent painted two slightly different versions of the subject, the one for Paris entitled En route pour la pêche (Setting Out to Fish) (1878, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC), and the 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. Both were well received by local critics. Sargent had chosen his subject with attention to current interest on both sides of the Atlantic in themes from peasant life, especially fisherfolk. In later works he painted other costumed types, such as Venetian beadstringers, Spanish dancers, Bedouin tribespeople, and even beggars, as in the romantic A Parisian Beggar Girl (TF 1994.14).

Along with Girl on the Beach (TF 1999.131), Breton Girl with a Basket (TF 1999.129), and Young Boy on the Beach (TF 1999.132), Breton Woman with a Basket is one of several painted sketches of individual figures that Sargent made on site. From Cancale he wrote to his sister Emily of his difficulties in finding models and then painting them on the beach surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Despite such challenges, the studies are animated by lively, fluid brushwork and graceful poses. The exact process by which Sargent worked from the sketches to create the two finished compositions in the studio is unknown, but in the color of the woman's skirt and shape of her basket, this study more closely relates to the perhaps earlier Boston version. In both finished paintings, however, Sargent shifted the woman's gaze so that she looks down attentively at a small blond boy at her side, projecting a grandmotherly concern.

American Artists and the French Experience,Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997 (as Breton Woman with a Basket, Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale").

Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900) Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000 (as Bretonne au panier, esquisse pour "Les ramasseuses d'huitres de Cancale" (Breton Woman with a Basket, Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale")). [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: American Artists in France, 1860–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 10–June 3, 2001 (as Breton Woman with a Basket, Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale").

D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002 (as Bretonne au panier, esquisse pour "Les ramasseuses d'huitres de Cancale" (Breton Woman with a Basket, Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale")).

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003) (as Breton Woman with a Basket, Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale") .

The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940 (Le Travail à l'oeuvre: les artistes américains 1840-1940), Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 15–May 25, 2003; Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 8–August 17, 2003 (as Bretonne au panier, esquisse pour "Les ramasseuses d'huitres de Cancale" (Breton Woman with a Basket, Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale")). [exh. cat.]

A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004 (as Breton Woman with a Basket, Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale") .

Expanded Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, April 15, 2005–July 27, 2009 (as Breton Woman with a Basket, Sketch for "Oyster Gatherers of Cancale") .

Sargent and the Sea, Corcoran Gallery of Art , Washington, DC (organizer). Venues: Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, September 12, 2009–January 3, 2010; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texax, February 14–May 23, 2010; Royal Academy of Arts, London, England, July 10–September 26, 2010. [exh. cat.]

Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France, Denver Museum of Fine Arts, Denver (organizer); Venues: Denver Art Museum, November 14, 2021 - March 13, 2022; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, April 16 - July 31, 2022. [exh. cat.]

   

Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (April 7–8, 1971): lot 33. Text lot 33 (as Breton Woman with Basket: Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale").

Mount, Charles Merrill. “The Works of John Singer Sargent in Washington.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington D.C. 49 (1973/74): Text p. 450 (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

John Singer Sargent, his own work. (exh. cat., Coe Kerr Gallery). New York: Coe Kerr Gallery and Wittenborn Art Books, 1980. Text p. 4 (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Fairbrother, Trevor. "Sargent's Genre Paintings and the Issues of Suppression and Privacy." In Studies in the History of Art: Vol. 37 Symposium Papers XXI: American Art around 1900: Lectures in Memory of Daniel Fraad. Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1990. Text p. 30 (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Cartwright, Derrick R. Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 28 (checklist); ill. p. 36 (color, as Breton Woman with a Basket (Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale")).

Cartwright, Derrick R. Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 28 (checklist); ill. p. 36 (color, as Bretonne au panier, esquisse pour "Les Ramasseuses d'huitres de Cancale").

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Ill. p. 94 (black & white, as Breton Woman with a Basket (Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale")).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Ill. p. 94 (black & white, as Bretonne au panier, esquisse pour "Les Ramasseuses d'huitres de Cancale").

Kennedy, Elizabeth. “The Terra Museum of American Art.” American Art Review 14, no. 6 (2002): Text pp. 128–129 (as Breton Woman with a Basket).

The People Work: American Perspectives, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art, Musée d’Art Américain). Giverny, France: Musée d’Art Américain, 2003. Text p. 30 (checklist, as Breton Woman with Basket, Sketch for "The Oyster Gatherers of Cancale").

Le travail a l’oeuvre: les artistes américains, 1840–1940. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art, Musée d’Art Américain). Giverny, France: Musée d’Art Américain, 2003. Text p. 30 (checklist, as Bretonne au panier, esquisse pour "Les Ramasseuses d'huitres de Cancale").

McHugh, Rich. The Rough Guide to Chicago. London: Rough Guides Limited, 2003. Text p. 61 (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Ormond, Richard, et al. John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1874–1882; Complete Paintings: Volume IV. New Haven; London: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 2006. Text pp. 86, 108, 117, 120, 396-97; Ill. p. 117, fig. 63 (black & white), p. 120 (color, as Study for "Oyster Gatherers of Cancale").

Cash, Sarah. Sargent and the Sea. (exh. cat., Corcoran Gallery of Art). Washington, DC: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 2009. Text pp. 97, 101, 103, 105; ill. p. 101, fig. 142 (color).

Scherer, Barrymore Laurence. “Sargent’s Sea Fever.” The Wall Street Journal (October 27, 2009). Accessed October 27, 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703746604574463420530345580. Text (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Donnelly, Jennifer A. “Sargent and the Wyeths in London: Sargent and the Sea, Royal Academy of Arts (10 July–26 September 2010) The Wyeth Family: Three Generations of American Art, Dulwich Picture Gallery (9 June–22 August 2010).” Transatlantica: Revue d’études américaines. American Studies Journal 1 (2010): Text p. 2 (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Payne, Christiana. “Modernity at the Seaside.” Oxford Art Journal 33, no. 2 (2010): 239–241. Text p. 239 (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Curry, David Park. “Sargent: Washington, Houston and London.” The Burlington Magazine 152, no. 1289 (2010): Text p. 560 (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Cumming, Laura. “Sargent and the Sea: Royal Academy, London.” The Guardian (July 17, 2010). Accessed October 27, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jul/18/singer-sargent-sea-royal-academy. Text (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Cash, Sarah, ed. Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Washington D.C.: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 2011. Text p. 143, p. 268n9 (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

"Sargent and the Sea is Down at the Shallow End.” Evening Standard (July 22, 2010). Accessed October 27, 2016. http://www.standard.co.uk/arts/sargent-and-the-sea-is-down-at-the-shallow-end-7420849.html. Text (general reference to studies for Oyster Gatherers of Cancale).

Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 125, 127; ill. p. 124 (color).

Standring, Timothy J., ed. Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France. (exh. cat., Denver Art Museum). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2021. Text p. 36; ill. p. 43 (color).