Collecting Flotsam on the Seashore (Les Ramasseurs d'Epaves)

Henry Moret’s art reflects a close association with Brittany, France’s westernmost region, and its long maritime tradition. Though he attended the École National des Beaux-Arts, Moret rejected his formal education in favor of the emerging Impressionist techniques and style, using unmuted colors to capture the beauty of Brittany’s landscapes. For a period, he was part of the circle of artists at Pont-Aven where, working alongside Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) and Emile Bernard (1868–1941), he adopted a Symbolist style. However, he returned to a more Impressionist idiom after Gauguin’s departure from Pont-Aven in 1891. Throughout, Moret remained committed to the ideal of painting scenes of nature in the open air. By 1896, he had settled in Douelan, the Breton fishing village where he found inspiration in the human and marine activity enlivening the coast. Here villagers load flotsam, the driftwood that washed up on the shore after ships wrecked in rough seas, onto a horse-drawn cart.