Claude Monet
In the autumn of 1886 Claude Monet sought out rugged and barren terrain on the island of Belle-Île-en-Mer off the coast of Brittany. Focusing his activity on the village of Kervilahouen on the Atlantic side of the island, he wrote to a fellow Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte, 'I’ve been here a month, and I’m grinding away; I’m in a magnificent region of wilderness, a tremendous heap of rocks and sea unbelievable for its colors; well, I’m very enthusiastic.' Still, Monet confessed to having trouble painting the wild ocean because he was used to painting the calmer channel waters. The colors, forms, and atmosphere of this magnificent painting reveal that Monet was concerned as much with conveying turbulent emotion as with meticulously recording the appearance of a site.
Happy Sunday everyone!