Seurat, Fisherman in a Moored Boat – The collection of Baron Denys Cochin

The collection of Baron Denys Cochin

Seurat
Fisherman in a Moored Boat
vers 1882 · Panel, 16.5 × 25 cm
Courtauld Gallery, London
See in the collection
An angler standing in his moored boat, on a small early panel: Cooper, in the 1954 catalogue of the Courtauld collection, no. 61, opens its provenance with Mme Seurat, the painter’s mother, then Denys Cochin, Bernheim-Jeune, Léon Marseille, the Princesse de Bassiano and Percy Moore Turner, from whom Samuel Courtauld acquired it^[1]. The 1994 catalogue repeats that provenance, cat. 45, with the Seurat exhibitions at Bernheim-Jeune in 1908-9 and 1920, and de Hauke’s no. 64^[2]. No ledger and no list of the family named a Seurat at Denys Cochin’s^[3].
Today: At the Courtauld Gallery in London, on long-term loan from a private collection since 1997, LP.1997.XX.16; the online record now gives it another history, Émile Seurat, Fénéon, Barbazanges, Georges Bernheim, Hessel, Gaston Lévy, Rosenberg & Helft and a purchase by Samuel Courtauld in July 1937, then Lady Aberconway, warning that its information “may be incomplete”^[4]. The two provenances cannot be reconciled; the catalogues of 1954 and 1994, which name him, remain the evidence for Denys Cochin^[2].
Photograph from the Courtauld Gallery’s collection online, LP.1997.XX.16; work in the public domain
Sources (4)
1. 1.Douglas Cooper, The Courtauld Collection: A Catalogue and Introduction, Londres, Athlone Press, 1954, n° 61 : Seurat, Pêcheur dans un bateau amarré, lu par la recherche plein texte d’Internet Archive, n° 61.
  Reference work · partly read (restricted access), 7 October 2026 · view ↗
  « 61. Pêcheur dans un bateau amarré. Plate 49. Wood panel: 6 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches (16.5 x 25 cms.). Provenance: Mme Seurat mère, Paris; Denys Cochin, Paris; with Bernheim-Jeune, Paris; Léon Marseille, Paris; Princesse de Bassiano, Paris; through Percy Moore Turner, London; Samuel Courtauld. Inventaire posthume Seurat, Panneaux, No. 49; Fénéon and de Hauke, No. 57 (provisional). »
2. 2.John House et al., Impressionism for England: Samuel Courtauld as Patron and Collector, Londres, Courtauld Institute Galleries, 1994, cat. 45 : Seurat, Fisherman in a Moored Boat, lu par la recherche plein texte d’Internet Archive, cat. 45.
  Reference work · partly read (restricted access), 7 October 2026 · view ↗
  « 45. Seurat, Georges, 1859-91. Fisherman in a Moored Boat, c. 1882. Pêcheur dans un bateau amarré. Oil on panel. Provenance: Mme Seurat, the artist’s mother, Paris; Denys Cochin; Bernheim-Jeune, Paris; Léon Marseille, Paris; Princesse de Bassiano, Paris; Percy Moore Turner, London; Samuel Courtauld, London. Exhibited: Seurat, Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1908-9 (15); Seurat, Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1920 (7); Seurat et ses amis, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1933-4 (70). Inventaire posthume Seurat, Panneaux, no. 49; Cooper, 1954, no. 61; de Hauke, 1961, no. 64. »
3. 3.Jacques Cochin, « Le goût en peinture de Denys Cochin, les tableaux achetés / échangés / vendus / transmis » et « Les peintres dans la collection Denys Cochin », compilations, juin 2026, deux feuillets transmis par la famille, « Les peintres dans la collection Denys Cochin », feuillet.
  Family document · read in full, 6 October 2026
  « Les peintres dans la collection Denys Cochin, compilation de Jacques Cochin en 06/2026 : Alix d’Hanethan, Albert Besnard, Pierre Bonnard, Adolphe Félix Cals, Charles Camoin, Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Eugène Corneau, Gustave Courbet, Honoré Daumier, Jacques-Louis David, Edgar Degas, Eugène Delacroix, Maurice Denis, André Derain, Fernand Desmoulin, Jacques Doucet, Raoul Dufy, Henri Fantin-Latour, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Othon Friesz, Paul Gauguin, Francisco de Goya, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Jan Davidszoon de Heem, Hubert Robert, Johan Jongkind, Eugène Laermans, Eugène Lami, Vicente López y Portaña, Édouard Manet, Marcel-Lenoir (Jules Oury), Claude Monet, Adolphe Monticelli, Berthe Morisot, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Robert Lotiron, Camille Pissarro, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Henry Ramey, Odilon Redon, Auguste Renoir, Théodore Rousseau, Paul Sérusier, Francesco Simonini, Paul Signac, Alfred Sisley, Claude Thiénon, Pierino del Vaga, Jan Frans Van Bloemen dit Orizonte, Vincent Van Gogh, Fernand Verhaegen, Kees Van Dongen. »
4. 4.Courtauld Gallery, Londres, collection en ligne, Georges Seurat, Fisherman in a moored boat, vers 1882, LP.1997.XX.16 : notice et provenance, notice.
  Reference work · read in full, 7 October 2026 · view ↗
  « Fisherman in a moored boat, c. 1882. Oil on panel, 16.5 x 24.8 cm. LP.1997.XX.16. Private collection, on long-term loan to the Courtauld Gallery, London, 1997. Provenance: Emile Seurat, Paris; Félix Fénéon, Paris; Galerie Barbazanges, Paris; Georges Bernheim, Paris; Joseph Hessel, Paris; Gaston Lévy, Paris; Rosenberg & Helft, London; bought by Samuel Courtauld, July 1937; Lady Aberconway; private collection. Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. »