Courbet painted this work during an intensely productive visit to Trouville with James McNeill Whistler from September until November 1865; in a letter to his father, the artist boasted that he had executed "thirty-five paintings" in a very short time, which "stunned everybody." In his choice of subject, Courbet followed in the wake of Eugène Isabey, Johan Barthold Jongkind, and Eugène Boudin; but unlike many of the canvases executed at the time, this fishing boat, rigged and filled with equipment, is the focus of the composition rather than a subordinate element. In 1899, this became the first work by Courbet to enter the Museum’s collection.
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Title:The Fishing Boat
Artist:Gustave Courbet (French, Ornans 1819–1877 La Tour-de-Peilz)
Date:1865
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:25 1/2 x 32 in. (64.8 x 81.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Mary Goldenberg, 1899
Object Number:99.11.3
Inscription: Signed (lower left): Gustave Courbet.
Jean-Louis Dussol de Cette (by 1882–84; his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 17, 1884, no. 29, as "Marine," for Fr 2,100); Mary Goldenberg, New York (until 1899)
Paris. Rond-Point du Pont de l'Alma. "Exposition des œuvres de M. G. Courbet," April 30–November 1867, no. 56 (as "La barque de pêcheurs [Trouville, 1865]").
Marseilles. Société des Amis des Arts. "Exposition de la Société des Amis des Arts de Marseille," 1882, unnumbered cat. (as "La Mer à Etretat," lent by M. Jean-Louis Dussol).
Bordeaux. Galerie des Beaux-Arts. "Profil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso," May 15–September 1, 1981, no. 118 (as "Barque sur le rivage").
Leningrad [St. Petersburg]. State Hermitage Museum. "From Delacroix to Matisse," March 15–May 10, 1988, no. 9.
Moscow. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. "From Delacroix to Matisse," June 10–July 30, 1988, no. 9.
Fort Lauderdale. Museum of Art. "Corot to Cézanne: 19th Century French Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," December 22, 1992–April 11, 1993, no catalogue.
Haus der Kunst München. "Corot, Courbet und die Maler von Barbizon: 'Les amis de la nature'," February 4–April 21, 1996, no. B 46 (as "Verlassene Fischerbarke am Felsstrand [Barque de Pêcheurs]").
Art Institute of Chicago. "Manet and the Sea," October 20, 2003–January 19, 2004, no. 73.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Manet and the Sea," February 15–May 30, 2004, no. 73.
Amsterdam. Van Gogh Museum. "Manet and the Sea," June 18–September 26, 2004, no. 73.
Paris. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Gustave Courbet," October 13, 2007–January 28, 2008, no. 136.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Gustave Courbet," February 27–May 18, 2008, no. 136.
Brisbane. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. "European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," June 12–October 17, 2021, unnumbered cat.
Osaka. Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts. "European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," November 13, 2021–January 16, 2022.
Tokyo. National Art Center. "European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," February 9–May 30, 2022.
Paul Martin. L'exposition de la Société des Amis des Arts de Marseille. Exh. cat., de Marseille. Marseilles, 1882, pp. 30, 35, ill.
Georges Riat. Gustave Courbet peintre. Paris, 1906, p. 230, lists it among 1865 seascapes included in Exh. Paris 1867.
Bryson Burroughs. Catalogue of Paintings. 1st ed. New York, 1914, p. 50, no. C83–1, calls it "Coast Scene".
Théodore Duret. Courbet. Paris, 1918, p. 149, as "Paysage de mer".
André Fontainas. Courbet. Paris, 1921, p. 75.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 23.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, p. 123, ill., call it "A Boat on the Shore," painted at Deauville.
Robert Fernier. La vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet. Vol. 1, Peintures, 1819–1865. Lausanne, 1977, pp. 264–65, no. 494, ill., as "Barque de pêcheurs".
John Pope-Hennessy inProfil du Metropolitan Museum of Art de New York: de Ramsès à Picasso. Exh. cat., Galerie des Beaux-Arts. Bordeaux, 1981, p. 99, no. 118, ill., calls it "Barque sur le rivage" and notes that it was painted at Trouville.
Pierre Courthion. L'opera completa di Courbet. Milan, 1985, p. 99, no. 460, ill. and colorpl. XXXI.
Roger Hurlburt. "Free Spirits." Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) (December 20, 1992), p. 4D.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 426, ill.
Christoph Heilmann inCorot, Courbet und die Maler von Barbizon: "Les amis de la nature". Ed. Christoph Heilmann, Michael Clarke, and John Sillevis. Exh. cat., Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen and Haus der Kunst München. Munich, 1996, pp. 172–73, no. B 46, ill. (color), dates it about 1865/66.
Laurence des Cars inGustave Courbet. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2008, pp. 294–95, no. 136, ill. (color) [French ed., Paris, 2007], dates it autumn 1865 and comments that the focus on the boat is rare among Courbet's seascapes; notes that it was the first Courbet to enter the MMA collection.
Katharine Baetjer inEuropean Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. South Brisbane, 2021, pp. 186, 231, ill. p. 187 (color).
Gustave Courbet (French, Ornans 1819–1877 La Tour-de-Peilz)
1863
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