In the foreground there is a bearded fisherman standing, with eyes closed and hands crossed, in a boat in a waiting gesture and meditative posture.

Similarly, a woman is depicted, who is an older child or the fisherman's wife, collecting flowers or edible roots.

Only the child is dressed in a brightly colored robe, which may be a symbol of hope for the future but also of suffering resulting from poverty.

Despite this, the canvas was enthusiastically received by the young symbolists and was the first work of the artist to be included in the collection of a national museum.

In 1887, this painting, then in the possession of the collector Émile Boivin, was bought by the French state, thanks to the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, and included in the collection of the Musée du Luxembourg, in Paris, where it remained until 1929.