Imagine : you are a painter in Berck-sur-Mer, during the second half of the 19th century. The purity of the horizon and the back-breaking work of the fishermen and their families are your sources of inspiration, no matter if you are a famous artist or merely an amateur wanting to go big. You plant your easel in the sand, thus being able to detail with your expert artist’s eye the world as it is and not as people imagine it. The works you paint in Berck-sur-Mer represent both postcard landscapes and the Berck way of life.
Back to the 21st century. Enter the museum and discover the impressionist and naturalistic canvases painted on the beach, which transcribe the atmosphere of yesteryear and the reality of the working conditions of fishermen in a wild natural environment. This is what the Berck School represents.
Contemplate the work of the women on the shore by Chambon, the wind that swells the sails of the boats by Louis-Napoléon Lepic, the rough portraits of the men and women of the Asile Maritime depicted by Francis Tattegrain. It is the authenticity and almost photographic nature of these works that makes them accessible to young and old alike.
Louis-Napoléon Lepic, "Le Maître"