L’Eglise de Landévennec
by Henry Moret

Henry Moret lived and worked mostly in Brittany, interpreting the Breton landscape in an Impressionist style. He worked at first in Paris with Carolles and J.P. Laurens, but smitten by free art after beginning at the Salon in 1880, he abandoned academicism to live and paint as he wished, in the open air. He formed part of the group of young artists around Gauguin at Pont-Aven. Later, he travelled along the coast of Morbihan, from Ouessant to Belle-Île and from Belle-Île to Groix, observing local types, seaside people, peasants, and sardine fishermen, making numerous sketches and studies. He settled at Doëlan and concentrated primarily on maritime themes, portraying the sea in all its aspects and the human activities revolving around it.

In 1892, Moret took part in the second exhibition of Impressionist and Symbolist painters, and in the Salon des Artistes Indépendants in Paris. In 1898, the Galerie Durand-Ruel organised his first private show. Several of his works were shown in the exhibition The Golden Age of Painting in Brittany ( L'Âge d'Or de la Peinture en Bretagne) at the Musée de Vannes, La Cohue in 2001. Among the posthumous retrospectives dedicated to him are: 1988, Henry Moret: Watercolours and Paintings, 1856-1913 ( Henry Moret: Aquarelles et Peintures, 1856-1913), Musée de Pont-Aven; and 1998, Henry Moret: A Landscape Artist of the School of Pont-Aven ( Henry Moret: Un Paysagiste de l'École de Pont-Aven), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper.