Claude Monet
Today's our last masterpiece from our special month with the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. We hope you enjoyed it!
A favorite motif that Monet frequently painted in Normandy is depicted here. This hut, overlooking the sea, stood on the edge of a cliff. It is likely at the end of Le Petit Ailly, a ravine between the beach of Pourville and the church of Varengeville, where the seawater did not reach. Although officially intended for customs officers, local fishermen typically used the hut as a storage place. Due to dune erosion caused by tides and harsh weather conditions, the hut no longer exists.
In the spring and summer of 1882, Monet painted the hut at least 17 times. He returned between 1896 and 1897 to paint it at least 14 more times. In these paintings, the weather conditions, the sea's position, and the waves' roughness vary each time. Monet referred to such series, in which a central motif was repeatedly depicted, as études, and he preferred to exhibit them together—just as he did with his paintings of Normandy.
Monet painted more than 40 variations of the cliffs of Pourville, all from the beach. He likely chose this vantage point for both practical and artistic reasons. It is probable that he painted some of these works en plein air. In the year he painted Pourville, he complained to his wife that the coastline offered little shelter from the weather. To withstand the wind, a spot on the beach was likely more favorable than a higher location.
The beach was also practical for another reason: to capture the effects of light at different times of the day, Monet worked on multiple canvases simultaneously—so many that he could not carry them all himself to the location. It was easier to bring them to the beach than up onto the cliff. At times, he even worked on eight paintings at once, spending about an hour on each to accurately capture the light at that moment.
Have a great and calm Sunday!
P.S. Monet is one of the most famous artists of all time but how well do you know him and his art? Test yourself in our Claude Monet QUIZ! Can you get all the answers correct?