Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) painted this oil on canvas in 1856. Two Women Chatting by the Sea depicts two women from St. Thomas standing on the shoreline having a conversation.
The two women are standing on a beach all but deserted except for some people on a floating raft. One of the women provides a spot of shade for both ladies with a large covered basket that she is carrying upon her head. She is wearing a white dress with a yellow scarf tied around her head. She also appears to be carrying something in her long skirt. The second lady, wearing a blue dress, seems to be carrying far less as she only has a basket hanging from one of her arms.
The two stand only a sandy patch among the dunes of the beach and a large hillside provides a backdrop that both points the way out to sea and yet keeps the eye firmly upon the two ladies.