A departure actually observed in the fall of 1885
The museum cites a letter dated October 30 in which Monet recounts seeing all the big boats go fishing together and wanting to resume this show daily. W1047 was born from this direct observation.
Canvas reproduction
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Oil painting on rolled canvas, unframed. Custom size available on request.
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Artwork description
Claude Monet · Étretat · 1885 · W1047
From Étretat beach, Monet watches the caiques go out for herring fishing. Their brown, red and blue sails spread out over a sea of sea green, while the Porte d'Aval and the Aiguille form a dark mass on the left under a misty sky. Painted in 1885, this oil on canvas measuring 60 × 81 cm is kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon under number 2961 and corresponds to Wildenstein 1047.

Look at the work
The beach enters from the lower left corner and leads towards the cliff. The first boats are close, with legible hulls and colored sails; the following become small dark signs scattered to the right. This progressive reduction gives the exit from the port its collective movement.
The Aval cliff extends horizontally then ends with the arch and the Needle. Monet blends his grays, blues and greens into the humid sky, without a clear geological outline. Conversely, the reflections under the sails are short vertical touches which make the chop and locate each boat.
The natural monument remains motionless, but the succession of caiques and their reflections makes the sea a space covered, almost measurable.
Composition, touch and light
Three precise elements allow us to understand this composition and the essential difficulties of faithful reproduction.
The museum cites a letter dated October 30 in which Monet recounts seeing all the big boats go fishing together and wanting to resume this show daily. W1047 was born from this direct observation.
These sturdy sailboats were launched from the pebble beach. Their dark silhouettes and triangular sails provide Monet with a series of simple shapes that stand out against the clear water.
The sea and the sky share very close blue-gray colors. The cliff remains dense but not black, while the red and brown sails bring the rare warm accents of this version.
Reference image
The single image reproduces version 2961 photographed for the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon. Its file of 2,837 × 2,064 px is encoded in real WebP at its native definition.
Nearby boats must form a group without becoming a regular line. The most distant ones extend the trajectory to the right and give the scale of the bay.
It separates the sails from the cliff and receives blue, red and black reflections. Water that is too gray would remove the sea shine; too saturated, it would contradict the foggy sky.
Its strata remain perceptible by variations of gray-green and purple. Too precise a drawing would cause the humidity of the air and the continuity between rock and clouds to lose.
Documented benchmarks
Dijon Musées documents Étretat, the Porte d'Aval: fishing boats leaving the port, oil on canvas from 1885, 60 × 81 cm, inventory 2961 and Wildenstein catalog 1047.
He abandons the villas and the casino for the cliffs, the fishing village, the tides and the variations of light. This painting precisely associates the monumental site with local activity.
The museum identifies traditional boats and the timing of the launch. Already established sails show a flotilla moving away rather than just anchoring near the beach.
The painting bears the number 2961 and is presented in the permanent tour of the Museum of Fine Arts of Dijon, room 39.
Your reproduction
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
| Title | Étretat, the Porte d'Aval, boats leaving port W1047 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1885 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 60 × 81 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Museum of Fine Arts of Dijon, Dijon, France |
| Inventory | 2961 · Wildenstein 1047 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
This horizontal navy is suitable above a sofa, sideboard or in an office. A gray blue, sea green or light sand wall and an oak or walnut frame highlight the flotilla without weighing down the cliff.
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