Boats Anchored in Tréboul

Rivière is one of the artists most representative of Japonisme—the European adaptation of Japanese aesthetics—in late nineteenth-century France. This work dates from the period in which he created his first celebrated series of color woodcuts "La mer, études de vagues" (The Sea, Study of Waves), 1890−92. Working in watercolor to prepare the compositions for his prints, he drew inspiration from the coasts of Brittany. Although none of the prints correspond precisely to this work, he certainly made it with the project in mind. Three of the prints in the series depict the coastline of Tréboul, the location noted on this sheet, where Rivière spent the summer of 1892. The subject of waves, the plunging perspective, and absence of horizon line in this watercolor surely derive from Japanese examples by masters such as Hokusai and Hiroshige.