Fishing For Oysters At Cancale

The painting, Fishing for Oysters at Cancale, was done by and American Artist in 1877 while in Paris. Sargent was twenty-one at the time when he was at Brittany sketching the fishermen on the shores. After he completed this painting he sent it to New York where it would be displayed at the Society of American Artists where it would be viewed for a month. John Singer painted another version of Fishing for Oysters at Cancale which was larger and more complete then the original. In 1878 the larger painting was sent to Paris Salon and awarded a Honorable Mention and also praised by critics and bought by a Samuel Colman for $200, Colman was known for his landscape paintings.

The setting of the painting is not your typical beach like you think of. The water looks like it is at low-tide, puddles still on the wet sand with footprints frozen for the moment until the tide comes back in and washes them away. The brush, light green looking like fall setting in with rocks mixed in, possible showing that the beach is at a foot of a mountain. The shimmers of the water and the reflection of the people gave it a more real life depiction of the area that was painted.
You automatically think of a fishing community with you see this setting. The mountains in the back gives you that depth, it makes you think about how big the harbor is. Grayish blue skies also help with the possibility of month it might