Lot Essay
The year that this was painted, 1873, was the year that Manet achieved the approval of the establishment with the acceptance by the Salon of his Franz Halls-like canvas Le Bon Bock, (Wildenstein 196, Philadelphia Museum of Art) which was in fact a portrait of the engraver Bellot sitting at a table in the Cafe Grebois. Monet, Sisley and Pissarro had abstained from submitting to the Salon's jury but Renoir and Eva Gonzalez had submitted works and been rejected. Manet's official success was echoed commercially when, in November, 1983, the baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure from the Paris opera bought five of his paintings including Le Bon Bock and Les Travailleurs de la Mer. Faure eventually became the most important single collector of Manet's paintings and at one time or another owned sixty-seven. He did, however, often act as a silent partner with manet's dealer Durand-Ruel and some paintings were owned by him for relatively short periods of time.
Also titled Pêcheurs en Mer this canvas was the chief product of three weeks spent by Manet and his family at Berck-sur-mer. That he painted from life on this holiday is evident from the fact that on at least one canvas (Sur la plage, Wildenstein 188, Museè du Louvre) there is sand in the paint.
It is likely that in order to capture the sensation of wind, speed and fomaing sea Manet took to sea with fishermen in their sardinier. This forceful, realistic tableau clearly indicates the vision of a man accustomed to experiencing the sea from on board. Manet was in fact, originally destined for a life at sea and at the age of sixteen sailed to Rio de Janeiro and back on a merchant vessel prior to taking, for the second time, his naval examinations which, perhaps fortunately, he failed.
Nine years earlier he had sought to capture on canvas a far more sensational marine event than a simple day's fishing and that was the battle that took place on June 19, 1884 between the United States Navy corvette Kearsage and the Confederate raider Alabama which was sunk off Cherbourg. Manet did not witness the event as many did, but rendered the scene some time later after having inspected the Kearsage at anchor at Boulogne (Comat du "Kearsage" et de "Alabama", Wildenstein 76, John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia).
It has been suggested, perhaps fancifully by at least one commentator (J.-L. Vadoyer, op.cit., p. ) that Manet chose the title of this work, Les Travailleurs de la Mer to deliberately echo the name of a well-known novel by Victor Hugo published in the 1860's which fictionalized the account of a voyage on board the Havre-et- Guadeloupe that took place in 1848. One of the highpoints was the harpooning of a giant porpoise. Since few fish are evident in Manet's painting it is likely that it shows the vessel heading for the open sea before the day's fishing begins. Apart from capturing the bounce and spray with great verve Manet has constructed a most compelling composition balancing the curve of the set said against that of the furled one and boldly bisecting the horizon with the thick shaft of the mast in the virtual center of the painting.
Also titled Pêcheurs en Mer this canvas was the chief product of three weeks spent by Manet and his family at Berck-sur-mer. That he painted from life on this holiday is evident from the fact that on at least one canvas (Sur la plage, Wildenstein 188, Museè du Louvre) there is sand in the paint.
It is likely that in order to capture the sensation of wind, speed and fomaing sea Manet took to sea with fishermen in their sardinier. This forceful, realistic tableau clearly indicates the vision of a man accustomed to experiencing the sea from on board. Manet was in fact, originally destined for a life at sea and at the age of sixteen sailed to Rio de Janeiro and back on a merchant vessel prior to taking, for the second time, his naval examinations which, perhaps fortunately, he failed.
Nine years earlier he had sought to capture on canvas a far more sensational marine event than a simple day's fishing and that was the battle that took place on June 19, 1884 between the United States Navy corvette Kearsage and the Confederate raider Alabama which was sunk off Cherbourg. Manet did not witness the event as many did, but rendered the scene some time later after having inspected the Kearsage at anchor at Boulogne (Comat du "Kearsage" et de "Alabama", Wildenstein 76, John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia).
It has been suggested, perhaps fancifully by at least one commentator (J.-L. Vadoyer, op.cit., p. ) that Manet chose the title of this work, Les Travailleurs de la Mer to deliberately echo the name of a well-known novel by Victor Hugo published in the 1860's which fictionalized the account of a voyage on board the Havre-et- Guadeloupe that took place in 1848. One of the highpoints was the harpooning of a giant porpoise. Since few fish are evident in Manet's painting it is likely that it shows the vessel heading for the open sea before the day's fishing begins. Apart from capturing the bounce and spray with great verve Manet has constructed a most compelling composition balancing the curve of the set said against that of the furled one and boldly bisecting the horizon with the thick shaft of the mast in the virtual center of the painting.