À propos de l’œuvre
Falaises de Pourville, mer agitée, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Pourville, 1897 · High Museum 2019.153 · W1443
Pourville Cliffs, rough seas W1443hand painted reproduction
A long chalk cliff stretches from the left before disappearing into the mist. Below, the rough sea occupies more than half of the canvas: yellows, whites, blues and grays intersect in short gestures, as if a downpour continually erases the boundary between foam and light. The digitization of the High Museum reveals a much more colorful material than the general very pale impression suggests.
Look at the work
The rain dissolves the cliff while the sea turns the light into yellow foam
The upper plate forms a fairly dark purple and green mass. Underneath it, the chalk wall is fragmented by white, turquoise, yellow and purple verticals. The profile decreases by several successive jumps to the center right. This slow diagonal gives depth, but its contours remain open and are lost in the atmosphere.
The sea is neither blue nor gray uniformly. The center is crossed by a large lemon yellow zone, then the waves in the foreground mix white, lavender blue, beige and some pink accents. The signature, at the bottom right, is on a calmer and darker part. The signature, at the bottom right, is on a calmer and darker part. It confirms that the movement is mainly concentrated in front and to the left of the spectator.
Monet places the viewer at the seaside: the cliff recedes in the downpour while the waves almost touch the bottom of the canvas.
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 cliff built by transparencies
Chalk contains white, blue, green and yellow, with areas where the web's weft remains noticeable. Overcovering these passages would remove the rain effect.
A yellow stripe in the heart of the sea
Yellow does not represent continuous sand: it passes through foam and light in fragments. Its width and ruptures are essential to the vibration of water.
Waves without repetitive drawing
Gestures change orientation and length in the foreground. Reproduction should retain this diversity rather than drawing regular rows of white foam.
Details and visual documents
Observe the material and the exact version
The additional images show the difficult-to-read passages in the full view and, where it exists, the actual appearance of the work at the museum.
The High Museum's native digitization measures 6,568 × 4,271 px. It is offered in WebP of 6,000 × 3,902 px, with two native details of 2,200 × 2,500 px and 2,500 × 1,902 px. with two native details of 2,200 × 2,500 px and 2,500 × 1,900 px. No artificial enlargement has been applied.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
These facts concern this precise version and are verified from the notice of the institution which keeps it.
High Museum 2019.153, Wildenstein 1443
The High Museum of Art dates this oil on canvas to 1897. It measures 64.8 × 99.1 cm, belongs to the Doris and Shouky Shaheen Collection and is registered under number 2019.153.
A site found after the campaigns of 1882
Monet came to paint in Pourville in 1882 and returned several times to this part of the Normandy coast. Cliffs become one of his privileged motifs, observed from different positions and under different weather conditions.
A downpour and a sea covered in foam
The High Museum notice describes a viewpoint placed at the edge of the rough sea. The cliffs are seen through the mist of a passing downpour, while the white crests of the waves fragment the entire lower half.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version of the High Museum, 2019.153 and W1443
- The original panoramic ratio of 64.8 × 99.1 cm
- The clear cliff preserved transparent and multicolored
- The broad yellow light fragmented in the middle of the waves
Work sheet
| Title | Pourville Cliffs, rough seas W1443 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1897 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 64.8 × 99.1 cm |
| Orientation | Panoramic horizontal |
| Conservation | High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Inventory | 2019.153 · Wildenstein 1443 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Chalk white, mist blue, lemon yellow, mauve and gray green give this reproduction a very open light. Its panoramic format is suitable for a living room, entrance or office with natural materials, with a warm gray, sand or very pale blue wall.
