August Uotila: Harvesting Oysters on the Brittany Coast

August Uotila (1858–1886) painted Harvesting Oysters on the Brittany Coast (1880) at Douarnenez, where he travelled in the summer of 1880 with Amélie Lundahl. That summer, both artists painted many of the same beautiful views in the spirit of plein air realism, as well as representatives of the local population in traditional dress. Uotila enjoyed portraying Bretons he called “sea workers”, often at the end of their workdays or having a break. This painting, which can be considered one of the culminations of Uotila’s career, is a masterful study of light, with its rendition of the evenness of the pearlescent grey summer’s day.