Monet, Etretat & the Normandy Coast

“I count on doing a large canvas of the cliffs of Etretat, although it is certianly bold of me to do that after after Courbet who did it admirably, but I will try to do it differently …” Claude Monet, January 1883

Claude Monet spent a great deal of time at the coastal fishing town of Étretat, painting the white cliffs, the fishing boats and some inland scenes in all light and weather. His first series of paintings of this area were made during an extended visit to Etretat in 1883-1884. Then again in September 1885 he returned to Etretat with his family, and stayed on in the town once they had returned to Giverny in October until early January, with some brief sojourns to Paris and Giverny.

Perhaps the most iconic of images from these two periods at the coastal town are those of the needle and arch, known as the Porte d’Aval. The painting above, Fishing Boats Leaving the Port, Etretat now in the Musée de Dijon and painted during his second stay in the town, has the needle and the arch in the background. This canvas is thinly painted, and was never exhibited in Monet’s lifetime, leading many to suggest that he intended to do more work on it.

Etretat’s main source of income was tourism and catering to holidaymakers, and the local travel guides would suggest to visitors that they watch out for the fishing fleets depart or return as a ‘local event’.

I strongly recommend a wonderful book written by Robert L. Herbert, published in 1994 by Yale University Press, entitled Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867-1886.