Bibliography
François Bocion, au seuil de l’impressionnisme, exh. cat. Vevey, Musée Jenisch Vevey, Milan, 5 Continents Editions, 2006.
François Bocion. Du Léman à Venise, exh. cat. Lausanne, Fondation de l’Hermitage, La Bibliothèques des Arts, Lausanne, 1990.
Michel Reymondin, Catalogue raisonné de François Bocion, Wormer, Inmerc, 1989: n. 430.
September 24, 1859. The Lake Geneva tugboat operating company launches the Mercure in Morges harbour as a crowd of onlookers claps and cheers. The steamship, designed by the famous Zurich-based shipbuilders Escher, Wyss & Cie, will put in at the ports all along the lake, from Geneva to Le Bouveret, several times a week. Its task is to pull the traditional flat-bottomed, wind-powered gabarre boats used to transport merchandise, speeding up deliveries.
François Bocion took a keen interest in shipping on Lake Geneva, tirelessly depicting the boats and ships that criss-crossed it for pleasure, tourism, and – as in this case – transport and deliveries. The large landscape-format canvas centres the Mercure, identifiable by its metal hull and the name on the paddle wheel housing. The captain can be glimpsed on the stern, guiding the ship with a steady hand as it steers its gentle course. The steam from the smokestack, symbolising modernity, mingles with clouds tinged orange by the setting sun. In its wake trails a ship with furled lateen sails, laden with goods protected by tarpaulins. The third ship in the group has large hoisted white sails. All three are in shade, with the setting sun behind them. To the left, a fourth ship with lateen sails approaches, standing out against the purple peaks of Haute-Savoie. As so often, Bocion’s lake is perfectly still, the wake of the ships barely stirring a ripple in the mirror-smooth waters.
The painting was displayed at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867. The museum acquired it directly from the artist the following year.