On the Shore

Jacques-Eugene Feyen 1815 - 1908

Summary

Women and children are harvesting oysters on a beach at low tide, probably at Cancale in Brittany, where Feyen had settled after training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Groups cluster together, filling communal baskets from smaller, individual ones. Both the overcast sky and their layers of clothing suggest that it is not warm, but many are bare-footed. On the left, a young woman standing alone watches three small children, who are helping with the chore. Other groups work the shore nearer to the water. Behind them, sailing boats keel over in the wind under a heavily overcast sky. Feyen was born in Bey-sur-Seille, near Nancy, in north-eastern France. Both he and his younger brother Auguste trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris and became successful Salon painters, the latter calling himself Feyen-Perrin.