À propos de l’œuvre
La marée basse à Pourville, près de Dieppe, en 1882, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Pourville · 1882 · W716
Low tide in Pourville, near Dieppe W716hand painted reproduction
At low tide, Pourville beach extends in front of a clear cliff whose foot joins a few houses and a hotel. The blue sea occupies a narrow strip, under a very vast sky covered with clouds. Painted in 1882, this oil on canvas measuring 59.9 × 81.3 cm is kept at the Cleveland Museum of Art under number 1947.196 and corresponds to Wildenstein 716.
Look at the work
A secluded tide opens the beach between the cliff, the houses and the sky
The cliff is placed slightly to the right of the center and slopes down towards the village. Tiny dark figures line the shore, while light buildings close the right end of the beach. Their small scale immediately makes the scale of the site noticeable.
Blue, turquoise and green build the sea; pink, ocher and purple shape the cliff and the pebbles. In the sky, chalky whites mingle with blue without forming a uniform sheet. Light thus circulates from the top of the canvas to the damp sand.
The title designates a precise moment in the cycle of the sea: the space discovered by the water becomes the real subject, measured by bathers, houses and the mass of the cliff.
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 low horizon dominated by atmosphere
The sea line remains below the middle of the canvas. Monet leaves an unusual place for the sky, which gives light and clouds as much importance as coastal relief.
Figures almost reduced to signs
The fine black lines at the water's edge correspond to bathers. They liven up the beach without becoming a genre scene and above all serve as a ladder facing the cliff.
A coast structured by three planes
Sand and puddles form the foreground, the sea and cliff occupy the middle, then the houses narrow to the right. This succession creates depth without rigid architectural perspective.
Reference image
Read this specific version
Only one exact image of W716 is used throughout the file. The real WebP measures 3,000 × 2,213 px, since reduced to the very high definition file from the Cleveland Museum of Art without artificial enlargement.
Respect the rounded profile of the cliff
The clear summit rises in the center before descending towards the houses. This drawing distinguishes W716 from the many other views of Pourville painted the same year.
Keep bathers at their tiny scale
Dark lines should remain brief and not very detailed. Enlarging them would distract from the relationship between low tide and the landscape.
Preserve the variety of blues
The sea is not a flat area: deep blue, sea green and light reflections respond to each other. Their alternation allows you to feel the shallow depth of the water near the shore.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
The Cleveland Museum of Art documents Low Tide at Pourville, near Dieppe, oil on canvas from 1882, 59.9 × 81.3 cm, inventory 1947.196 and Wildenstein 716.
A campaign on the Normandy coast in the spring of 1882
Monet works in Pourville, a fishing village near Dieppe, where the beach, the promenade and the cliffs offer him patterns that change with the tide and the weather.
Small black touches represent bathers
The museum's notice identifies the narrow features at the foot of the cliff as people in the water. This discreet detail gives a human measure to the expanse.
Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon in 1947
The work entered the Cleveland Museum of Art with the number 1947.196. Its official file in very high definition allows you to precisely study touch and color.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The Wildenstein 716 version
- The clear cliff in the center right
- Bathers indicated by a few black lines
- The beach discovered by low tide
Work sheet
| Title | Low tide in Pourville, near Dieppe W716 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1882 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 59.9 × 81.3 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| Inventory | 1947.196 · Wildenstein 716 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This bright coastline is suitable for a living room, bedroom or office. A gray blue wall, light sand or off-white and a natural setting prolong the balance between sky, sea and cliff.
