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Mourning at Ouessant (Brittany)

  • oil paint, cardboard
  • 74 x 90 cm
  • Inv. 1903-P

Public Domain

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Like many contemporaries, the French painter Charles Cottet was attracted to authentic life in Brittany, where he stayed for several weeks almost every year from 1885 onwards. He derived his themes from the fishing life on the islands of Sein and Ouessant off the Breton coast. In the painting Mourning in Ouessant, which is also known as Bad News, a young woman hides her face in her arms. In front of her on the table is a letter announcing the death of a loved one. The helplessness lies in her posture but also in the expression of the girl flanking her. In Cottet's work from the 1890s onwards there are repeated scenes of grieving fishermen's wives and orphans, the mourning atmosphere being emphasised by the dominant dark colour scheme. Cottet never depicted the death of the fishermen themselves, but in his paintings he did make allusions to the fatality of their existence.

Artist

Charles Cottet RKD
Le Puy-en-Velay 1863 - Paris 1925
painters (artists)AAT

Title Mourning at Ouessant (Brittany)
Period 19th century
20th century
Location Ouessant TGN
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings signatures (names) bottom left: .Ch Cottet.
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number 1903-P
Acquisition credit long-term loan
Vlaamse Gemeenschap
Brussels
1903
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1903-P
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/344/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300139140 genre pictures AAT
Keywords Iconclass 25H14 island Iconclass
31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass
31AA231 standing figure - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31AA2321 leaning forward - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31AA235 sitting figure - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31D120 Youth, Adolescence, 'Iuventus'; 'Adolescenza', 'Gioventu' (Ripa) Iconclass
31D13 adolescent, young woman, maiden Iconclass
31D15 adult woman Iconclass
41A33 window Iconclass
41A3321 closed window Iconclass
41A711 table Iconclass
41A731 case furniture Iconclass
42B6 orphans Iconclass
42E131 mourning the dead Iconclass
42G2112 mother (first degree family relationships) Iconclass
42G2122 daughter (first degree family relationships) Iconclass
43C128 fisherman Iconclass
46C223 harbour Iconclass
46C23 boat propelled by man or animal Iconclass
46C29 shipping accident; sickness and death at sea Iconclass
46E221 letter, envelope Iconclass
47K commercial fishery Iconclass
47K1 sea and coastal fishery Iconclass
56BB1 Pain, Sorrow, Sadness; 'Dolore', 'Dolore di Zeusi' (Ripa) Iconclass
61D(BRITTANY) geographical names of countries, regions, mountains, rivers, etc. (names of cities and villages excepted) (BRITTANY) Iconclass
61D(FINISTERE) geographical names of countries, regions, mountains, rivers, etc. (names of cities and villages excepted) (FINISTERE) Iconclass
61D(FRANCE) geographical names of countries, regions, mountains, rivers, etc. (names of cities and villages excepted) (FRANCE) Iconclass
61D(OUESSANT) geographical names of countries, regions, mountains, rivers, etc. (names of cities and villages excepted) (OUESSANT) Iconclass
School / Style naturalism (artistic form of expression) AAT
Catalogus van het Museum van Schoone Kunsten Gent : II: Moderne Meesters / Georges Chabot, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Ad. Hoste, 1932 (p. 50)
De vrienden van Scribe : De Europese smaak van een Gents mecenas (tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 12 december 1998 - 14 maart 1999) / Monique Tahon-Vanroose, Robert Hoozee. - Gent : Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon, 1998 ; Antwerpen : Pandora, 1998 (p. 75, 82 (ill.), 155 (ill.))
Albert Baertsoen : Protagonist van het fin de siècle (tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 03.09 -27.11.2022) / René Vermeir, Johan De Smet, Stefan Huygebaert, Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Stephen H. Goddard. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2022 ; Gent : Snoeck, 2022 (p. 200)
Albert Baertsoen : Protagoniste fin de siècle (exposition Gand, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 03.09 -27.11.2022) / René Vermeir, Johan De Smet, Stefan Huygebaert, Yann Farinaux-Le Sidaner, Stephen H. Goddard. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2022 ; Gand : Snoeck, 2022 (p. 200)
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