Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1905
Canvas size: 21 x 29in / 53 x 74cm
Frame size: 29 x 37in / 74 x 95in
Belle-Île en Mer is an island off the coast of Brittany. Moret travelled there frequently to paint its rugged coastline.
Durand-Ruel, Paris
Phillips New York, Sale 289, lot 66
Private Collection, Florida
This painting is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity from Mr Jean-Yves Rolland, and will be included in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné
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Title: Port Donnant, Belle-Île en Mer Artist Name: Henry MoretBorn in 1856 in Cherbourg in northwestern France, Henry Moret started his artistic career after his military commander, Jules La Villette, recognised his talent. Through his introduction, Moret met Ernest Corroller, a drawing teacher and marine painter, who taught him landscape painting.
Moret’s artistic training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris began following his military service in 1875. Although he first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1880, it was during his visits to Pont-Aven from 1888 onwards that he began to explore the less academic thinking of Gauguin in particular, although this waned after Gauguin’s departure in 1891.
Influenced by Gauguin, Moret’s work presented the markers of Symbolism. As his work developed, his success grew, and in 1895 he began to exhibit work with Paul Durand-Ruel, whose network of galleries around the world had huge success promoting modern painting, particularly Impressionism.
Indeed, Moret’s work became markedly more Impressionist after about 1900, with small flecks of paint replacing the broad strokes favoured by the Pont-Aven artists, and an increasing concentration on landscape painting and the effects of light. Moret gave Durand-Ruel approximately 600 paintings, many of which were exhibited in Paris and New York, leading to his international recognition. Over the course of his career, Moret’s painting can be seen as a reflection of the seismic changes happening in European painting at the time, from the classically-oriented work of the early years to his later more Impressionistic style.
An indication of the popularity of Moret’s work during his lifetime and beyond can be gauged by a selection of museums that hold his work, including: the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper; Southampton City Art Gallery; the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff; the Hermitage, St Petersburg; the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Moret’s paintings are still revered to this day. If you’re interested in owning his art, Willow Gallery offers a number of Henry Moret paintings for sale.
