If there were just one painting in the world, such an artwork would certainly be meaningless.

 

In the art exhibitions each picture needs its own space to be admired, but very often the other pictures around contribute to better understand an artwork. As for me, that Breton gouache painting led me to find out a little more about the art of that region, and over time, to buy some other artworks on the Internet that were related to the scene depicted, and that would help to bring meaning to its message.

When several paintings speak of the same topic, as with people, a kind of dialogue is established among them. This usually happens even between two artworks with different subjects. A single painting is an orphaned picture. Hence the importance of thematic and monographic exhibitions. Here are some of the engravings and etchings I acquired. They all are pages or fragments of original pages from 19th century illustrated magazines.

‘Les Pêcheuses de crabes au bord de la mer’ (1883).

- The Crab Fishers by the Sea is an engraving after a painting by Pierre-Marie Beyle, drawing by Edouard Garnier, engraved by Trichon, and published in Le Magasin Pittoresque, edition no. 5 of 1883.

‘La Pêche à Marée Basse’ (1903).

- Low Tide Fishing is an engraving by Charles Baude after a painting by Pierre-Marie Beyle. Published in Le Magasin Pittoresque, edition no. 17, September 1, 1903.

‘Les pêcheries de Dieppe, Marée Basse’ (1882).

- Dieppe fisheries, Low Tide is an engraving after a painting by Pierre-Marie Beyle, drawing by Edouard Garnier, engraved by M. Paillard. Published in Le Monde Illustré in 1882.

‘Grande Maree dans La Manche’ (1882).

- High tide in the English Channel is an etching (strong wáter) by Farlet after a painting by August Hagborg. Published in Le Magasin Pittoresque in 1882.

‘Les Sardinières de Concarneau’ (1897).

- Sardine women of Concarneau is an engraving by Jarraud after a painting by Alfred Guillou exhibited at the Salon des Champs-Élysées in 1896. Published in Le Magasin Pittoresque in 1897.

‘Un Bateau de Pêche à Dieppe’ (1909).

- A Fishing Boat at Dieppe is an engraving by Durel after a painting by Marie-Auguste Flameng. Published in May 15, 1909.

When looking at this set of images, which portray subjects similar to those in the charity's painting, we notice that they all lead to two specific locations: Dieppe, in Normandy, and Concarneau, in Brittany. Many of these paintings were executed by the same artist's hand, that of Pierre-Marie Beyle. Another one was painted by Alfred Guillou. 

Pierre-Marie Beyle (1838-1902) was a French artist born in Lyon and trained in Paris. From 1867 to 1902 he exhibited regularly at the Salon de Paris, receiving the Salon's prestigious prize several times. In 1881 he exhibited at The Grafton Gallery, London, and shortly afterwards at the Institute of Fine Arts in Glasgow. In 1900 he took part in the Universal Exhibition. From 1878 he focused his painting on the Normandy area, mainly on the Dieppe coast, capturing the fishermen's lives. Looking at these images it is easy to understand why market and dealers demanded this kind of depictions. They all are images that delight the viewer when you contemplate them. They are certainly beautiful and pleasing to the eye, avoiding any grimmer scene that these artists would surely find in those coastal villages. Even the poverty features, the girls' clothes for example, are dyed with an idyllic tint.

 

Picturing the Breton peasantry.

 

Since 1830 the nineteenth century was a period of political, social and artistic change. Romanticism helped to focus interest on nature, not simply as a background to the historical landscape tradition, but as a theme itself. The influence of John Ruskin in English artists and travelers was fundamental in shaping conceptions of “cultural tourism” as an alternative to the market-driven travel experience. Furthermore, the prolific artistic and lithographic depictions reproduced in Parisian magazines such as Le Magasin Pittoresque, with special focus on the natural landscape and the pre-industrial peasantry of Brittany, with their traditional folk costumes, coiffes (female hair styles), beliefs and customs, aroused special interest in a type of conventionalized picturesque representation of this region, and the so-called thèmes paysans (peasant scenes) that were becoming part of the pictorial topics in the annual salons.

 

As urbanization and industrialization on contemporary life accelerated, with the exodus of the working classes to the cities, there was also a growing nostalgia for the countryside. A market for idyllic rural life painting emerged, which was a great economic incentive that allowed many artists to take temporary or permanent settlement in rural villages. At the same time, travel around France became much easier with the expansion of the railways. The first train from Paris to Quimper ran in 1862. Artists were able to spend summers in the countryside and in the coast practising plein-air-painting. French academician Jean-Leon Gerome used to encourage his American students to visit Brittany. By the 1870s Pont-Aven had become a favourite location for city artists. In this context of growing interest for landscape painting a number of artists' colonies flourished throughout Europe.

 

The Concarneau Group.

 

Many artists settled at least temporarily in Concarneau from 1870 until mid 20th century. The origin of this colony is linked to one of the artists of these engravings, monsieur Alfred Guillou. The son of a fisherman and former mayor of Concarneau, Guillou temporarily trained in Paris at the Alexandre Cabanel workshop, where he met other artists such as Jules Bastien-Lepage, Fernand Cormon and Théophile Deyrolle. Due to Guillou's influence, Deyrolle abandoned his architectural studies at the École des Beaux-arts and joined him in painting. He became a student and assistant in Alexandre Cabanel and William Bouguereau's studios. Years later both artists left Paris to live in Concarneau. There Deyrolle married Guillou's sister Suzanne, also an artist. Together they founded the Concarneau Artists' Colony, where they painted picturesque scenes following academic techniques. Like many other artists, Guillou and Deyrolle felt that Breton traditions would eventually be transformed and disappear, and that it was the artists' duty to preserve their memory. Guillou spent most of his life in his native town, and was able to exhibit works at the Universal Exhibitions of 1889 and 1900 in Paris, where he won silver medals. One of Guillou’s paintings, Pecheuses de Crevettes, shows two children on a rock fishing with a net what the tide has left. Another of his paintings, Jeune pêcheuse de crevettes, depicts a young Breton girl on the rocks carrying a fishing net and a basket. Most of the Deyrolle’s paintings are pastoral scenes, or deal with harbour life and maritime trades. Some of the artworks by both artists are displayed at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Quimper. Very close to another artists' colony, Pont-Aven, over the years Concarneau attracted many artists interested in the depiction of coastal scenes and in the Breton traditions, which they associated with a kind of primitivism.

 

I had no intention of acquiring more engravings. However, on an early Friday morning, at one of the stalls at the Portobello market, I came across a wonderful antique engraving that once again stimulated my interest in this type of artwork, and encouraged me to keep looking for more.