À propos de l’œuvre
Voiliers en mer, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · A flotilla pushed by the wind off the coast of Étretat · MCBA Lausanne
Sailboats at sea W125hand painted reproduction
A line of sailboats crosses a turquoise sea under a sky laden with clouds. The nearest boats, seen at an angle, carry large gray and brown sails; the following ones diminish to the very high horizon. Monet transforms the departure of a fishing fleet into a study of wind, foam and distances.
Look at the work
The sails follow one another on an almost shoreless sea
Two boats occupy the left foreground. Their dark hulls cut the waves, while their sails overlap in gray, purple and red-brown triangles. Further on, the silhouettes become simple vertical accents.
The horizon is placed in the upper third and leaves a large surface area for water. Short white touches signal wave ridges and wake. The blue-gray sky retains clear openings that respond to the bright greens of the sea.
The succession of boats measures space, but it is the touches of the water and the inclination of the sails that make the wind visible.
Composition, touch and light
What Monet builds behind the impression of snapshot
Three precise elements allow us to understand this composition and the essential difficulties of faithful reproduction.
A very high horizon
This construction, brought closer by the museum to the influence of Japanese prints, reduces the sky and places the viewer facing a large expanse of waves.
A diagonal of sailboats
The flotilla starts from the left corner and moves away to the right. Differences in scale and sharpness are enough to build depth.
Shapes built by color
The sails are not enclosed in regular contours. Juxtaposed grays, browns and purples indicate their curvature and tension.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The unique reference comes from MCBA Lausanne and corresponds to the 2006-001 inventory, Wildenstein 125. The official file of 4,000 × 3,273 px was reduced without enlargement to 3,000 × 2,455 px then encoded in WebP.
Nearby sails overlap
Their separation depends on color changes and small mast lines, not a continuous black ring.
White concentrates in the wake
They remain rare on the rest of the sea, which preserves the density of the turquoise range.
Distant boats remain very simplified
A few vertical keys are enough. Detailing them excessively would cancel out the impression of distance.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
Painted in 1868, this oil on canvas measuring 50 × 61 cm is kept at the MCBA Lausanne under the 2006-001 inventory and classified Wildenstein 125.
Three flotillas painted in Étretat
At the end of 1868, Monet produced three paintings devoted to fishing boats leaving the coast, today listed as Wildenstein 124 to 126.
The wind studied by sails and waves
The museum highlights the control that accompanies the apparent spontaneity of the keys. Preparatory drawings show that Monet was precisely studying the structure of the boats.
The Edwige Guyot legacy
The work entered the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts in Lausanne in 2006 thanks to the legacy of Edwige Guyot. It has been in the inventory since 2006-001.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Holding the horizon in the upper third.
- Regularly reduce the flotilla towards the distance.
- Vary the grays and browns of the sails.
- Limit whites to waves and essential wakes.
Work sheet
| Title | Sailboats at sea W125 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1868 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 50 × 61 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Inventory | 2006-001 · Wildenstein 125 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This bright navy is suitable for a living room, office or home close to water. A blue gray, smoked wood or weathered black frame highlights the sails without extinguishing the greens of the sea.
