Description
Painted in 1885, The Cliffs at Etretatis a lovely example of Claude Monet’s Impressionistic practice of perception over reality. Blurred brush stokes replace bolder, more linear lines enabling the artist to depict the sense of motion and light. A moving sea of waves and sailboats sit in the background to round out this delightful painting. Monet made dozens of striking images of the Normandy coastline in northwestern France. The natural stone arch and freestanding pillar of rock were a popular sight emblematic of the town of Etretat, but were seldom seen from this vantage point. Bright blues and cool gray tones are used, along with the transition of color into gray where the shadows fall. This fleeting quality of light reflects off of the water, shore, and rocks and seems to permeate the very air.
