Claude Monet painted this sun-soaked scene of the cliffs of Amont in \u00c9tretat on the northern coast of France in saturated tones of blue, orange, and pink. \u00c9tretat was a popular tourist destination, but Monet decided to travel there with his family during the town\u2019s offseason, in the fall and winter of 1885. Instead of bustling with travelers, as it would have been during the summer months, the beach appears desolate aside from a small grouping of local fishing boats gathered at the shore.<\/p>\n
This is one of thirty-five works that comprise the Winterbotham Collection. Click here to learn more about the collection.<\/a><\/p>\n","short_description":"Monet arrived in \u00c9tretat, on the Normandy coast, with his family for a vacation in September 1885. By the time he left in December he had initiated 51 canvases, many of which he reworked back at his studio in Giverny. The majority feature the rock formations that flank the bay of \u00c9tretat. These subjects proved to be among Monet\u2019s most precipitous and enchanting: the location was as physically dangerous to navigate as it was sublime to behold.","dimensions":"69.3 \u00d7 66.1 cm (27 1\/4 \u00d7 26 in.); Framed: 90.8 \u00d7 88.3 \u00d7 10.8 cm (35 3\/4 \u00d7 34 3\/4 \u00d7 4 1\/4 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":66,"height":69,"diameter":null,"clarification":null},{"depth":10,"width":88,"height":90,"diameter":null,"clarification":"Framed"}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas","inscriptions":"Inscribed lower right: Claude Monet","credit_line":"Gift of Mrs. John H. (Anne R.) Winterbotham in memory of John H. Winterbotham; Joseph Winterbotham Collection","catalogue_display":" Wildenstein, Claude Monet, biographie et catalogue raisonn\u00e9, 1979 1012<\/p>","publication_history":"Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Collectors: An Exhibition Sponsored by the Men\u2019s Council of the Art Institute, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, [1963]), p. 5.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Annual Report, 1963\u201364 (Art Institute of Chicago, [1964]), pp. 3, 19.\n\nPhilbrook Art Center, French and American Impressionism, Sponsored by Tulsa Collectors Group, exh. cat. (Philbrook Art Center, 1967), p. 7, cat. 7.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, \u201cExhibitions,\u201d Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 69, 4 (July\u2013Aug. 1975), p. 7.\n\nGrace Seiberling, \u201cThe Evolution of an Impressionist,\u201d in Paintings by Monet, ed. Susan Wise, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 31.\n\nSusan Wise, ed., Paintings by Monet, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 112, cat. 58 (ill.).\n\nDaniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonn\u00e9, vol. 2, Peintures, 1882\u20131886 (Biblioth\u00e8que des Arts, 1979), pp. 168; 169, cat. 1012 (ill.).\n\nCharles F. Stuckey, ed., Monet: A Retrospective (Hugh Lauter Levin, 1985), p. 121 (ill.).\n\nLyn DelliQuadri, \u201cA Living Tradition: The Winterbothams and Their Legacy,\u201d in Art Institute of Chicago, The Joseph Winterbotham Collection: A Living Tradition (Art Institute of Chicago, 1986), p. 13.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, The Joseph Winterbotham Collection: A Living Tradition (Art Institute of Chicago, 1986), pp. 56 (ill.), 60.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, \u201cSelected References and Index,\u201d in \u201cThe Joseph Winterbotham Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago,\u201d special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, 2 (1994), p. 192.\n\nLyn DelliQuadri, \u201cA Living Tradition: The Winterbothams and Their Legacy,\u201d in \u201cThe Joseph Winterbotham Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago,\u201d special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, 2 (1994), p. 109.\n\nMargherita Andreotti, \u201cThe Joseph Winterbotham Collection,\u201d in \u201cThe Joseph Winterbotham Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago,\u201d special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, 2 (1994), pp. 118\u201319 (ill.).\n\nRobert L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867\u20131886 (Yale University Press, 1994), pp. 101; 102\u201303, fig. 109; 104\u201305, fig. 114 (detail).\n\nSophia Shaw Pettus, \u201cChecklist of the Joseph Winterbotham Collection, 1921\u20131994,\u201d in \u201cThe Joseph Winterbotham Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago,\u201d special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies20, 2 (1994), p. 188 (ill.). \n\nCharles F. Stuckey, Claude Monet, 1840\u20131926, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago\/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 102, cat. 81 (ill.).\n\nPeter Neill, On a Painted Ocean: Art of the Seven Seas, in collaboration with James A. Randall and Suzanne Demisch, ed. Gareth L. Steen (New York University Press, 1995), pp. 2, 3 (ill.).\n\nDaniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonn\u00e9\/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 3, Nos. 969\u20131595 (Taschen\/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 381, cat. 1012 (ill.).\n\n\u201cCat. 21: \u00c9tretat: The Beach and the Falaise d\u2019Amont, 1885\u201d in Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, ed. Gloria Groom and Jill Shaw (Art Institute of Chicago, 2014), https:\/\/publications.artic.edu\/monet\/reader\/paintingsanddrawings\/section\/135470<\/a>.\n\nGloria Groom, et. al. Monet and Chicago, exh. Cat. (Chicago: Art Institute, 2020), 20, 32, 69 cat. 33, 133.","exhibition_history":"Boston, Brooks Reed Gallery, Tableaux Durand-Ruel, Oct. 1916.\n\nCincinnati Art Museum, French Painters of the So-Called Impressionist School, Nov. 1926.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Chicago Collectors: An Exhibition Sponsored by the Men\u2019s Council of the Art Institute, Sept. 20\u2013Oct. 27, 1963, no cat. no.\n\nTulsa, Okla., Philbrook Art Center, French and American Impressionism, Oct. 2\u2013Nov. 26, 1967, cat. 7.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Monet, Mar. 15\u2013May 11, 1975, cat. 58 (ill.).\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Claude Monet, 1840\u20131926, July 22\u2013Nov. 26, 1995, cat. 81 (ill.).\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Monet and Chicago, September 5, 2020-June 14, 2021, cat. 33.","provenance_text":"Bongniat et Cie [per Wildenstein 1996]. Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, by Aug. 1, 1912 [this and the three following per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1913 (no. 10089, as Falaises \u00e0 Etretat, 1876), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; half-share to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Aug. 1, 1912, for 3,500 francs; remaining half-share sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Jan. 13, 1916; sent to Durand-Ruel, New York, Feb. 1916; sold to Chester Johnson, Chicago, June 29, 1929 [per Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1929 (no. 3926, as Falaises \u00e0 Etretat), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]. Mrs. Anne R. Winterbotham, Chicago, by 1964; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1964 (died 1970), who retained a life interest in the painting. In 1973, it became a part of the Art Institute\u2019s Joseph Winterbotham Collection; see Lyn DelliQuadri, \u201cA Living Tradition: The Winterbothams and Their Legacy,\u201d in \u201cThe Joseph Winterbotham Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago,\u201d special issue, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 20, 2 (1994), p. 109.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":14,"fiscal_year":1964,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":true,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":23.7327,"color":{"h":193,"l":42,"s":13,"percentage":0.28851187118817384,"population":2133},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Painting and Sculpture of Europe","department_id":"PC-10","artist_id":35809,"artist_title":"Claude Monet","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[35809],"artist_titles":["Claude Monet"],"category_ids":["PC-10"],"category_titles":["Painting and Sculpture of Europe"],"term_titles":["painting","oil painting","Impressionism","landscapes","oil paint (paint)","nineteenth century","19th century","painting techniques","painting (image making)","painting","painting","paint","canvas","paint","oil paintings (visual works)","oil on canvas","french","beach","cliff","rocks","boats","sailing","summer","sky","european painting","weather\/seasons","water"],"style_id":"TM-7543","style_title":"Impressionism","alt_style_ids":["TM-15636","TM-13203"],"style_ids":["TM-7543","TM-15636","TM-13203"],"style_titles":["Impressionism","nineteenth century","19th century"],"classification_id":"TM-9","classification_title":"painting","alt_classification_ids":["TM-10387","TM-78","TM-66","TM-14976","TM-54"],"classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-10387","TM-78","TM-66","TM-14976","TM-54"],"classification_titles":["painting","paint","oil paintings (visual works)","oil on canvas","french","european painting"],"subject_id":"TM-8657","alt_subject_ids":["TM-14715","TM-15635","TM-12407","TM-8737","TM-12236","TM-12826","TM-12468","TM-10095","TM-8681"],"subject_ids":["TM-8657","TM-14715","TM-15635","TM-12407","TM-8737","TM-12236","TM-12826","TM-12468","TM-10095","TM-8681"],"subject_titles":["landscapes","beach","cliff","rocks","boats","sailing","summer","sky","weather\/seasons","water"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":["TM-13502","TM-2577","TM-3124"],"material_ids":["TM-2451","TM-13502","TM-2577","TM-3124"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)","painting","paint","canvas"],"technique_id":"TM-4273","alt_technique_ids":["TM-3971","TM-3891","TM-14210"],"technique_ids":["TM-4273","TM-3971","TM-3891","TM-14210"],"technique_titles":["oil painting","painting techniques","painting (image making)","painting"],"theme_titles":[],"image_id":"350b7e7f-e1d8-e58b-8890-0ef6b04afe18","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[36728088439],"section_titles":["Cat. 21 \u00a0\u00c9tretat: The Beach and the Falaise d\u2019Amont, 1885"],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1964.204"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["\u00c9tretat: The Beach and the Falaise d'Amont"],"weight":13122,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-08-25T14:16:04-05:00","updated_at":"2026-10-05T23:25:39-05:00","timestamp":"2026-10-10T21:56:06-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.16"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}