Le Croisic* features strongly in my Painting of the Month for May. The artist, Jean-Émile Laboureur, lived in the small fishing town on the Loire-Atlantique coast for much of his life. Originally from Nantes, he developed cubist ideas and his unique woodcut representation while in Paris.

Laboureur (1877-1943) was a French painter, draftsman, engraver, etcher, lithographer and illustrator. From his room in Le Croisic by the quay he made several studies of fishermen. L’Arrivée du Poissons was painted around 1914 in oil on cardboard, but also appeared as a wood cut print. 

His paintings and engravings of the fishing activities compliment some of other genre studies he made in the area, including tourists, society women and, even, American soldiers as they arrived on the Guérande Peninsula. 

The Arrival of the Fish can be seen in the Nantes Museum of Fine Arts. A copy can also be seen at the Quayside in a series of exhibits of works from the area. Like many French towns there is a very good display of paintings around the town representing views as the artists saw them.

We discovered Le Croisic on our current French trip. When we chatted to a couple of locals, expressing how delightful the town was, they said “sshhh! Keep it a secret”. Oops!