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Claude Monet
French, 1840–1926
The Cliffs at Étretat
1885
Between October and December 1885, Monet made nearly fifty paintings of the Normandy coast. This work shows the Porte d’Aval, a naturally formed arch, and a freestanding needle-like rock that attracted tourists and artists alike to the town of Étretat. Monet painted this view of the cliffs from an unusual location, accessible only by boat or via a precipitous path. The writer Guy de Maupassant described how the artist “watched the sun and the shadows, capturing in a few brushstrokes a falling ray of light or a passing cloud.”
Image Caption
Claude Monet, The Cliffs at Étretat, 1885, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.528
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
25 5/8 x 32 in. (65.1 x 81.3 cm)
Frame: 37 1/2 x 43 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. (95.3 x 110.5 x 9.5 cm)
Object Number
1955.528
Acquisition
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status
On Loan
Select Bibliography
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Five: French Paintings of the 19th Century. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1956. Greenberg, Clement. "The Later Monet." Art News Annual 26 (1957). William C. Seitz.. Claude Monet.. New York: Abrams.. 1960.. Wildenstein & Company. An Exhibition of Treasures from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts: Paintings, drawings & rare silver, for the benefit of the Committee to Rescue Italian Art, inc. (CRIA). Exhibition catalogue. New York: Wildenstein & Company, 1967. Nina Kasanof.. "Monet and Etretat.". 7:4.. North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin.. May 1968.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Luigina Rossi Bortolatto.. L'Opera Completa di Claude Monet.. Milan: Rizzoli.. 1972.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Pierre Courthion.. Impressionism.. New York: Abrams.. 1972.. Robin Ironside.. "The Artistic Vision of Proust.". 101:157.. Apollo.. March 1975.. Barbara Ehrlich White, ed.. Impressionism in Perspective.. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.. 1978.. Brian Petrie.. Monet: The First of the Impressionists.. Oxford: Phaidon.. 1979.. Mabuchi, Akiko. Claude Monet. The Great Masters of Modern Art, vol. 7. Tokyo: Kodansha. 1980. Brooks, John H. Highlights: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1981. Forge, Andrew and Robert Gordon. Monet. New York: Abrams. 1983. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Charles F. Stuckey, ec.. Monet: A Retrospective.. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin/Scribner.. c. 1985.. Brooks, John H. Monet in Massachusetts. Exhibition brochure. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1985. Elvehjem Museum, University of Wisconsin, Madison.. Picture of the Month. April 4-May 4, 1987. No catalogue.. 1987.. Madison: The Elvehjem Museum of Art.. Artscene.. vol. 3, no. 2.. (March/April 1987).. Harris, Jean C., Steve Kern, and Bill Stern. Lasting Impressions: French and American Impressionism from New England Museums. Exhibition catalogue. Springfield, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1988. Michael Howard.. Monet.. London: Bison Books.. 1989.. Richard Kendall, ed.. Monet by Himself: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels, Letters.. London: Macdonald Orbis.. 1989.. Bernard Myers.. Methods of the Masters: Monet.. London: Brian Todd Publishing.. 1990.. Charles F. Stuckey.. French Painting.. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin/Macmillan.. 1991.. Denise Delouche.. Monet à Belle-Ile.. Le Chasse-Marée/ArMen.. 1992..
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Robert L. Herbert.. Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867-1886.. London: Yale University Press.. 1994.. The Chunichi Shimbun.. Claude Monet Exhibition. Nagoya City Art Museum; Bridgestone Museum of Art; Hiroshima Museum of Art. Feb.-July 1994. Stuckey, Charles. Claude Monet 1840-1926. Exhibition catalogue. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago; London: Thames & Hudson, 1995. Paul Tucker.. Claude Monet: Life and Art.. London: Yale University Press.. 1995.. Kodansha, Ltd.. La Muse: Monet.. 1995.. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Kern, Steven, et al. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect, 19161951. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1996 Daniel Wildenstein. Monet: Catalogue Raisonné, 4 vols. (in English, French, German).. Wildenstein Institute and Paris: Taschen France and Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag.. 1996. Vienna: Osterreichische Galerie. Claude Monet, March 14- June 16, 1996 (Cat. by Stephan Koja). Prestel Verlag. 1996. Anonymous. "Nineteenth-Century Painting and Sculpture." The Magazine Antiques 152 (October 1997): 522–31. Norio Shimada and Keiko Sakagami.. Claude Monet, Vol. 2.. Japan Educational Center for Art.. 2001.. Murphy, Alexandra. "Monet in Normandia e Bretagna." In Monet: I luoghi della pittura. Exhibition catalogue. Conegliano, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2001. Monet 2003 Large Engagement Calender. te Neues Publlishing Company. 2002:week 42. Schools Museums ART Project (SMART Project). Madison Metropolitan School District. 2002:p. 173. Delouche, Denis. Monet à Belle-Île. France: Éditions Palantines. 2006. Fowle, Frances, ed. Monet and French Landscapes: Vétheuil and Normandy. National Galleries of scotland in association with the Visual Arts research Institute, Edinburgh. 2006. Brettel, Richard et al. Monet and Normandy. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2006. Ganz, James and Richard Kendall. The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. Royal Academy, London, March 17- June 10, 2007; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, June 24- September 16, 2007. 2007. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Robert L. Herbert.. Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867-1886.. London: Yale University Press.. 1994.. The Chunichi Shimbun.. Claude Monet Exhibition. Nagoya City Art Museum; Bridgestone Museum of Art; Hiroshima Museum of Art. Feb.-July 1994. Stuckey, Charles. Claude Monet 1840-1926. Exhibition catalogue. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago; London: Thames & Hudson, 1995. Paul Tucker.. Claude Monet: Life and Art.. London: Yale University Press.. 1995.. Kodansha, Ltd.. La Muse: Monet.. 1995.. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Kern, Steven, et al. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect, 19161951. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1996 Daniel Wildenstein. Monet: Catalogue Raisonné, 4 vols. (in English, French, German).. Wildenstein Institute and Paris: Taschen France and Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag.. 1996. Vienna: Osterreichische Galerie. Claude Monet, March 14- June 16, 1996 (Cat. by Stephan Koja). Prestel Verlag. 1996. Anonymous. "Nineteenth-Century Painting and Sculpture." The Magazine Antiques 152 (October 1997): 522–31. Norio Shimada and Keiko Sakagami.. Claude Monet, Vol. 2.. Japan Educational Center for Art.. 2001.. Murphy, Alexandra. "Monet in Normandia e Bretagna." In Monet: I luoghi della pittura. Exhibition catalogue. Conegliano, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2001. Monet 2003 Large Engagement Calender. te Neues Publlishing Company. 2002:week 42. Schools Museums ART Project (SMART Project). Madison Metropolitan School District. 2002:p. 173. Delouche, Denis. Monet à Belle-Île. France: Éditions Palantines. 2006. Fowle, Frances, ed. Monet and French Landscapes: Vétheuil and Normandy. National Galleries of scotland in association with the Visual Arts research Institute, Edinburgh. 2006. Brettel, Richard et al. Monet and Normandy. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2006. Ganz, James and Richard Kendall. The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. Royal Academy, London, March 17- June 10, 2007; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, June 24- September 16, 2007. 2007. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.
Provenance
The artist, sold to Sutton; James F. Sutton, New York (d. 1915); Mrs. James F. Sutton, New York, by descent (1915–33, sale, American Art Association, New York, 26 Oct. 1933, no. 60, ill., as Les Falaises d’Etretat, Normandie, sold to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, New York, sold to Clark, 30 Oct. 1933]; Robert Sterling Clark (1933–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.