Taking as its subject matter a lifeboat off the coast of Audierne in Brittany, Le bateau de sauvetage à Audierne masterfully demonstrates Henry Moret’s adept handling of his medium. Through a frenetic application of impastoed brushstrokes, Moret creates a textured depiction of a roiling ocean upon which a lifeboat with its passengers rides. The ship from which they have been rescued can be seen on the horizon.

Moret arrived at Pont-Aven in Brittany in 1888 and was to become heavily involved in the Pont-Aven school alongside Paul Gauguin. After Gauguin left the region in 1891, Moret stayed and continued to be inspired by the rich and varied landscape of Brittany, as Catherine Puget, a former conservator at the Musée du Pont-Aven, once wrote: ‘In effect, Moret anchored himself to Brittany and for 35 years, travelled tirelessly across the region, attentive to both its permanent character and its fleeting elements. As for the man, he isn’t a painter of the Salon; he had a thirst for solitude and for purity; he was a simple and discrete being, in love with nature and well-liked by the community, into which he integrated seamlessly, hunting, fishing and playing cards with the local inhabitants’ (C. Puget quoted in Henry Moret, aquarelles et peintures 1856-1913 (exhibition catalogue), Musée de Pont-Aven, Pont-Aven, 1998, p. 6). Moret established a fertile relationship with the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and with the backing of the famed Impressionist dealer, Moret continued to develop his style; immersing himself within Impressionism with a particular focus upon the effects of light in dramatic weather conditions. The present work is testament to the artist’s vision during this period.