A Family Of Fishermen At The Entrance To A Harbor – Oil On Canvas – Signed – Circa 1850

A. Sassy (active in the 19th century)
A family of fishermen on the shore, at the entrance to a harbor, circa 1840–1860
Oil on canvas
Signed lower left “Ad. Sassy”
61 x 41 cm, 70.5 x 50.5 cm with frame
Very good condition, one very small visible repair on the back
Modern frame with bronze and gold patina

The catch has just been unloaded. Flatfish, a skate, a few eels still glistening, and redfish are spread out on the sand. A woman in a red skirt and a striped sailor’s shirt bends down to select them and slip them into a basket. Behind her, a man sits near his fishing baskets. In the center stands a fisherman, wearing a striped cap, a red scarf, a yellow double-breasted vest, loose linen trousers, and clogs on his feet. At their feet, a little girl plays with a basket.

All around them, a variety of fishing equipment is carefully depicted: a yoke resting on the ground, a barrel, a copper cauldron, a coil of rope, and a large mast lying on stakes. If you look closely, you can even spot a small crab and some seashells on the sand.

To the right, the harbor opens out onto the sea. Boats are beached on the shore, and a long stone pier ends in a white lighthouse. Out at sea, a three-masted sailing ship and a small steamship with its plume of smoke cross paths: the navy of yesterday and that of tomorrow united on the same canvas. The vast pearly-gray sky, pierced by a patch of light, occupies more than half the painting and lends the scene a sense of spaciousness.

The fisherman’s attire and the landscape (dunes, a thatched cottage, a long pier) evoke the North Sea coast, between Flanders and the Opal Coast.

The work is in very good condition. The colors are fresh and the paint is well preserved. There is only one very small, visible repair on the back, on the left. It is presented in a modern frame with a bronze and gold patina, accented with a black border, in very good condition.

A. Sassy’s biography has yet to be written. We found no information about this painter in the directories we consulted. His painting follows in the tradition of the romantic fishing scenes that were highly popular in the mid-19th century—a genre in which Eugène Isabey was one of the masters: a vast sky, a harbor in the background, and in the foreground, a scene of daily life depicted with precision.

Work on view at the gallery (07240)
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