The Poor Fisherman

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes painted this Symbolist work between 1879 and 1881. A fisherman stands at the front of his boat, arms folded as if in prayer, under a grey sky. On the sparse shore behind, a mother and naked child gather dandelions. Without literal description, Puvis conveys desolation and resignation: a widower with his two children in a bleak landscape.

The painting sparked controversy at the 1881 Salon. Critics attacked its flat color, lack of modeling, and refusal of traditional perspective. But younger artists, Seurat, Gauguin, Maurice Denis, and later Picasso, embraced exactly these qualities. Picasso's Blue Period shows direct influence. The work wasn't purchased until 1887, when dealer Paul Durand-Ruel intervened. It measures 155.5 x 192.5 cm, oil on canvas, and hangs at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.