À propos de l’œuvre
Les Régates à Sainte-Adresse, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · Sailboats, walkers and summer lights on the Normandy coast · Metropolitan Museum of Art
Regattas at Sainte-Adresse W91hand painted reproduction
Under a bright sky, the sails of a regatta cross the bay of Sainte-Adresse. Elegant walkers stand on the beach in the foreground, facing water covered with blue, green and white reflections. Monet paints the resort at high tide and makes light the true link between dark silhouettes, boats and the immense display of clouds.
Look at the work
The oblique line of the shore leads walkers towards the sun-drenched flotilla
On the left, a group of women and men in street clothes look out to sea. Their dresses, hats and parasols form a series of vertical silhouettes on the inclined beach. Further down, a few fishermen and boats remind us that the coast also remains a place of work.
The sailboats are distributed at several distances: dark hulls near the shore, white sails in the center and small touches on the horizon. The sky occupies almost half of the canvas. Its clear clouds, shaped by bluish grays, amplify the brightness of the sea and the movement of the regatta.
Monet brings together in the same light the sociability of the beach, maritime work and the light speed of sailboats.
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 depth measured by the sails
The boats gradually decrease without following a regular line. Their intervals, the variation of the whites and the overlap of the masts create a vast bay where the gaze can circulate freely.
The contrast between silhouettes and atmosphere
The figures in the foreground are darker and more compact than the sky or the sea. They give a basis to the composition while accentuating, by contrast, the dazzling of the sails and clouds.
A counterpart dedicated to two faces of Sainte-Adresse
The Met brings this painting closer to La Plage à Sainte-Adresse kept in Chicago. The sunny regatta, at high tide and frequented by the bourgeoisie, responds to a grayer beach, at low tide, bustling with fishing boats and workers.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The visual corresponds to inventory 51.30.4 of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Wildenstein number 91. Its native width of 3,000 px was retained during encoding as a real WebP, without oversampling.
The shore remains a clear but irregular diagonal
Sand, pebbles, people and small boats interrupt the slope. A line that is too clear would artificially separate the foreground from the sea.
White sails vary depending on their distance
Some contain yellow and pink, others blue or gray. These temperature differences give depth and avoid graphic repetition.
The clouds maintain a great amplitude
Their volumes are constructed by edges that are sometimes luminous, sometimes dissolved. The material must remain more flexible than that of the figures so that the sky retains its movement.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
Signed and dated 1867, this oil on canvas measures 75.2 × 101.6 cm. It is kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under inventory 51.30.4 and classified Wildenstein 91.
Summer 1867 at Sainte-Adresse
Monet works on the coast near Le Havre, where part of his family lives. Beaches, gardens, boats and walkers allow him to study very different lighting effects in a restricted geographical space.
A modern resort
Spectator clothing signals a social walk rather than a stage exclusively devoted to fishermen. The regatta places contemporary life in a traditional seascape.
Legacy of William Church Osborn
After several French and American collections, the painting was bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by William Church Osborn in 1951. Inventory 51.30.4 distinguishes this large version from other views of Sainte-Adresse.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- Maintain the scale relationship between figures, boats and horizon.
- Vary the whites of the sails and clouds.
- Preserve the fragmented reflections of the sea.
- Maintain the silhouettes of the shore without too much detail.
Work sheet
| Title | Regattas at Sainte-Adresse W91 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | 1867 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 75.2 × 101.6 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States |
| Inventory | 51.30.4 · Wildenstein 91 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
This large horizontal navy brings light to a living room, dining room or office. A midnight blue, natural wood or patinated gold frame emphasizes depth; a light wall highlights the sky and the sails.
