Drying Nets, Concarneau Harry Greville Wood Irwin
A dramatic, bird's-eye view, lively colour and swift handling combine to convey something of the bustle and light of this French scene. It is particularly fascinating to note that some of the fishing nets being hung out to dry are blue! From 1905, there has been an annual 'Fête des Filets Bleus' (the Blue Fish Nets Festival) in Concarneau, Brittany, celebrating the time when the quays were covered with sardine fishing nets, which were a distinctive blue. The theme of Concarneau's sardine fishers attracted other artists, too, from England's William Lee Hankey to France's Paul Signac and Scotland's William Marshall Brown. But the intense and busy atmosphere conjured by Irwin in this vivid picture is not like any other exploration of this theme and is a delight.
34.5cms x 44.5cms
48cms x 58cms