Cat. 13  The Beach at Sainte-Adresse, 1867

Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago

Pebbly white beach in the foreground with several small rowboats, including a bright blue one at right and darker boats at left; a few people stand near the boats and another pair sits closer to the water. Midground shows calm turquoise water with multiple small sailboats, many with dark red-brown sails, moving across the bay from center to right. Background at left holds a green hillside and a cluster of town buildings with a tall church spire, tapering toward a low shoreline that stretches to the distant right. Above, a wide expanse of light to medium gray clouds covers most of the sky.

Cat. 13

The Beach at Sainte-Adresse^[1]
1867
Oil on canvas; 75.8 × 102.5 cm (29 13/16 × 40 5/16 in.)
Signed and dated: Claude Monet 67 (lower right, name in dark-brown paint, year in reddish-purple paint)
The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.439

Technical Report
Provenance
Exhibition History
Selected References
Other Documentation

Monet and Normandy

In the mid-1860s, Claude Monet returned to the coast of Normandy—a place whose picturesque sites, villages, and vantage points he knew well, having spent much of his childhood in the coastal town of Le Havre (fig. 13.1). The area had changed dramatically over the course of the nineteenth century, however, due in large part to the expanding rail network and the proliferation of travel guidebooks and illustrated publications. The small, rural fishing villages of the beginning of the century were rapidly transformed into seaside resorts for tourists and vacationers, altering the physical and social landscape in dramatic ways.^[2]
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Black-and-white map of northern France with the English Channel shaded light gray across the upper left. From left to right along the coast, small black dots label Sainte-Adresse and Le Havre, Honfleur and Trouville slightly south across the estuary, then Montivilliers near Le Havre, followed by Étretat, Fécamp, Petites-Dalles, Varengeville, Pourville, and Dieppe. Inland, a winding river labeled Seine runs from near the coast toward the lower right past Rouen, then by Giverny, Vétheuil, and Poissy to Paris; a short tributary labeled Epte meets the Seine near Giverny. Single image with place names in black text and thin black outlines for coasts and rivers. — Fig. 13.1

Map featuring Paris and the region of Normandy.

Not only did the coastline and geological sites of Normandy become popular with tourists, they were also favorite subjects of many nineteenth-century artists, especially Monet, who painted the region’s natural and man-made attractions hundreds of times during his career and is considered by many to be the “greatest visual poet of Normandy.”^[3] Monet’s seascapes of the 1860s—the decade before he emerged as the leader of the Impressionist movement—most often feature the coasts of Le Havre (on the northern bank of the estuary of the Seine), Honfleur (on the southern bank across from Le Havre), and, as in the present picture, Sainte-Adresse, a coastal suburb just northwest of Le Havre where the artist’s aunt owned a villa. Scholars have noted that public opinion at this time was divided on the condition of Sainte-Adresse: some writers commented that “all the seductions of solitude, silence and oceanic contemplation still reign there,”^[4] while others complained that it had “lost most of the rustic appearance which gave it its charm.”^[5] In any event, Sainte-Adresse had certainly arrived in the public imagination by the mid-1860s, popularized in the writings of the French critic Alphonse Karr^[6] and documented by artists including painters Frédéric Bazille,^[7] Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot,^[8] and Johan Barthold Jongkind,^[9] as well as photographer Gustave Le Gray (fig. 13.2 and fig. 13.3).^[10] It is through this complex lens that one must read Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse.2

Top half shows a pale tan sky. From left to right across the midground, a row of low buildings with dark roofs sits by the shore, with a few small boats and gear on the beach. The foreground is a wide, brown‑ and gray‑pebbled beach where one adult stands near the center-left; to the right, a narrow pier or breakwater meets light gray water with several small boats and a few distant figures near the shoreline. — Fig. 13.2

Gustave Le Gray (French, 1820–1884). *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse*, from the album *Vistas del mar*, 1856/57. Albumen print from wet collodion on glass negative; 31.3 × 38.5 cm (12 5/16 × 15 3/16 in.). The Art Institute of Chicago, Hugh Edwards Fund, 1971.577.15.

At the top, a pale sky meets a calm bay on the left, where the shoreline curves inward and a few small boats sit near the water. Across the middle, low waterfront buildings and a larger structure line the beach, with short piers extending into the water and houses climbing a sloping hillside toward tall cliffs. In the foreground on the right, fenced enclosures, a striped hut, a signpost, and small sheds sit beside a winding path. Colors are shades of brown and beige. — Fig. 13.3

Gustave Le Gray (French, 1820–1884). *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse, with the Dumont Baths*, from the album *Vistas del mar*, 1856/57. Albumen print from wet collodion on glass negative; 31.7 × 41 cm (12 1/2 × 16 1/8). The Art Institute of Chicago, Hugh Edwards Fund, 1971.577.8.

Monet’s Early Paintings of Sainte-Adresse and the Coast of Normandy

The Beach at Sainte-Adresse was executed in the summer of 1867, an extraordinarily challenging time for Monet personally. Earlier in the year, upon learning that his companion, Camille Doncieux, was pregnant, Monet had moved into his aunt’s home in Sainte-Adresse. In order to shield his disapproving family from the situation, he discreetly shuttled back and forth to Paris, where he had arranged for Camille to be cared for. Despite (or perhaps because of) his complicated personal life, Monet was productive during this period: by the end of June, he wrote from Sainte-Adresse to the painter Frédéric Bazille that he had “twenty or so canvases well under way, stunning seacapes, figures, and gardens, something of everything in fact.”^[11] It was not the first time Monet had painted the coast of Normandy, or specifically Sainte-Adresse, however. Just two years earlier, he had made his debut at the 1865 Paris Salon with two large, ambitious seascapes of the region—the Kimbell Art Museum’s La Pointe de la Hève at Low Tide (fig. 13.4 [W52]), a picture depicting the Sainte-Adresse beach looking northward; and the Norton Simon Museum’s Mouth of the Seine at Honfleur (fig. 13.5 [W51]), which portrays Honfleur, situated at the mouth of the Seine across from Le Havre.^[12] These two works—largely praised by Salon critics—were painted in Monet’s studio and based on smaller oil studies on canvas that he had previously made on location.^[13] Notably, in the Salon compositions as well as other paintings he made around this time, the artist downplayed the ongoing resort development in Normandy. With their rather muted, gray-and-brown-infused palettes, Monet’s early seascapes predominantly depict brooding natural environments and feature Normandy’s beaches and terrain as the workplaces of its local inhabitants and fishermen.^[14]3

Top area shows heavy dark-gray clouds with a pale break near the center and a thin horizon line. On the left, choppy gray‑green water with white foam meets the shore, and a small sailboat sits far off near the horizon. Across the right, brown and green cliffs rise above a wide beach; a long wooden breakwater extends toward the sea and a small rowboat rests on the sand. In the foreground, a wet pebbly shoreline stretches left to right, with several adults in dark clothing near the water and a horse pulling a cart in the shallow surf; all figures are small compared with the tall cliffs. — Fig. 13.4

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *La Pointe de la Hève at Low Tide,* 1865. Oil on canvas; 90.2 × 150.5 cm (35 1/2 × 59 1/4 in.). Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, AP 1968.07.

Across the top, patches of blue sky show through large gray and white clouds, with a few small white birds on the right. Along the horizon, a light-colored lighthouse stands near the center-left beside a low town and dark green hillside, while multiple sailboats with dark or gray sails spread across the water to the right. In the foreground, choppy brown-green water dominates; at far left a large sailing boat leans near the harbor wall, and near center a small rowboat with a few indistinct figures sits closer to the viewer than the smaller, more distant sailboats. — Fig. 13.5

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Mouth of the Seine at Honfleur*, 1865. Oil on canvas; 89.5 × 150.5 cm (35 1/4 × 59 1/4 in.). The Norton Simon Foundation, F.1973.33.2.P. Image courtesy of The Norton Simon Foundation.

Monet’s seascapes from the summer of 1867, however, proved to be markedly different from those he had painted only a couple of years earlier. Beach exemplifies his evolving painting technique at this time and foreshadows some of the qualities that would later become characteristic of the Impressionist movement; indeed, the fact that Monet was represented by the painting at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876—nearly ten years after it was executed—is a testament to this. Perhaps the most striking change apparent in Monet’s work from the summer of 1867 is that, unlike his earlier coastal landscapes, he painted Beach en plein air. Complaining of the difficulty of painting in this way, he wrote to Bazille in July: “I am losing my sight. …I can barely see after working for half an hour; the doctor told me that I had to stop painting out of doors.”^[15] The severe glare and changing weather conditions Monet experienced undoubtedly contributed to the choices of colors he used in creating these pictures. Indeed, the palette of Beach is blonder and brighter than those of his 1865 Salon seascapes. This is in large part the result of the artist’s use of a lighter and cooler palette and his incorporation of more colorful elements into the composition (see Technical Report).4

The paintings Monet executed in Sainte-Adresse in the summer of 1867 also differ from his earlier depictions in terms of their subject matter, for these pictures comprise the artist’s “first sustained campaign of painting that involved tourism.”^[16] The viewer is immediately drawn to the visible aspects of local life in Beach—dark-sailed fishing boats drift in the water, and other beached crafts are surrounded by fishermen and their equipment. The two groups of boats frame two figures sitting on the shoreline: a man in a dark hat and suit looking out through his telescope, accompanied by a woman wearing a yellow hat with a red ribbon (fig. 13.6). The woman’s dress—perhaps the composition’s brightest element—further captures the viewer’s gaze; in this, one of the few areas of notable impasto in the painting, Monet constructed the garment out of a few strokes of almost pure lead white paint. Upon recognizing the couple—undoubtedly vacationers, given their attire—our view of the painting’s narrative changes. As aptly noted by Robert L. Herbert, “We are obliged to convert a traditional seacoast scene to one that has been invaded by modern life.”^[17]
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Upper half shows a wide pale blue background. At lower center-right, two seated people face right; the rear person wears a black hat and dark clothing and holds a long yellow tube to their eye, while the person in front wears a light-colored hat with a red ribbon and a white outfit. Both sit on a light gray-white ground with a red cloth near them, legs extended to the right, and they occupy a small portion of the scene compared to the open blue area. — Fig. 13.6

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

New Observations

The Beach at Sainte-Adresse is often considered to be a pendant to Monet’s Regatta at Sainte-Adresse (fig. 13.7 [W91]), also executed during the summer of 1867 and now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.^[18] Although there is no evidence that the artist wanted to exhibit or sell these paintings as a pair, Regatta was painted on a canvas very close in size to the Art Institute’s work, and both depict the same portion of the Sainte-Adresse beach and include signs—notably a new villa atop the hill at left and the presence of vacationers—of the physical and social transformations taking place at the resort destination.^[19] Although many scholars have noted the complementary nature of these two paintings and the fact that each picture references the coexistence of local and tourist life at Sainte-Adresse, Beach is dominated by fishermen and dark-sailed ketches, while Regatta is populated with urban tourists and white-sailed leisure yachts.^[20] Furthermore, the former has a slightly sketchier paint quality and depicts the water at low tide with an overcast sky; in contrast, the compositional elements of Regatta seem more finished, and it portrays a sunny day at high tide.
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Top: a pale blue sky filled with long rows of white clouds.
Middle: a wide stretch of green‑blue water with many white‑sailed boats, the largest at the right foreground and smaller ones scattered toward the distant horizon; a low shoreline with small buildings and a pointed steeple runs from left to center.
Bottom/left: a curved, pebbly beach with several small figures, mostly adults wearing hats, some seated and some standing near a small blue boat; the shore narrows as it leads toward the town in the distance. — Fig. 13.7

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Regatta at Sainte-Adresse*, 1867. Oil on canvas; 75.2 × 101.6 cm (29 5/8 × 40 in.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, bequest of William Church Osborn, 1951 (51.30.4). Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY.

Recent technical analysis has revealed, however, that Monet did not always intend for local life to dominate Beach; in fact, there are a number of indications that the Art Institute’s composition was originally closer to that of the Metropolitan Museum’s painting than has been previously recognized. Infrared imaging reveals that in an earlier stage of the Art Institute’s canvas there was a group of four or five figures on the shoreline at the right side of the painting: furthest to the right were a man and woman, to their left were two men (one standing and one possibly seated), and to their left was perhaps another seated figure (fig. 13.8). Although it is difficult to determine the specific details of their clothing, it is clear that they represent a group of city-dwelling vacationers: the woman, located second from the right, wears a long dress, and three of the accompanying figures clearly sport hats, the silhouettes of which resemble those of the tourists in Regatta. Moreover, these figures face the water much the same way that the tourists depicted in the Metropolitan Museum’s picture look out onto the English Channel to watch the regatta. These well-dressed figures were clearly the prominent human element in the original composition and were painted on a scale similar to or slightly larger than the three fishermen at left, which were late additions to Beach. It is notable that traces of charcoal were identified near the heads of these fishermen, suggesting a possible underdrawing and bringing to mind Monet’s graphic works—like Cliffs and Sea, Sainte-Adresse (fig. 13.9, cat. 12)—of the same period.
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At the top, a wide sky filled with layered clouds in light and dark gray spans the scene. In the middle, a calm bay extends left to right with several small sailboats, and a distant shoreline with low buildings and a tall steeple runs along the horizon. In the foreground, a pebbly beach holds several beached boats—larger near the viewer at center-right and left—while several adults stand near a boat on the left and a few smaller figures appear by the waterline. — Infrared Reflectogram (1646 nm)

Top: a cloudy gray sky spans the scene, meeting a low shoreline with clustered buildings and a tall pointed spire toward the left. Middle: water stretches across with several small sailboats, their dark triangular sails spaced along the horizon. Bottom: a textured shore runs left to right; a few people stand at the far left and another stands at the far right, while two rowboats lie on the beach in the center-right, larger than the distant boats and figures. All elements appear in shades of black, white, and gray. — Transmitted Infrared (1.0-1.1µm)

Alt text for the image — Transmitted Infrared

Fig. 13.8

Infrared reflectogram (Surface Optics, 1646 nm) and transmitted-infrared (Fuji, 1.0–1.1 µm) details of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

At left, a large dark cliff rises above a rocky shoreline, with scattered stones at its base. Across the middle, calm gray water stretches to the horizon; in the right foreground a small dark rowboat rests on the shore with its bow toward the water. Near the distant horizon, a small vessel shows a light plume of smoke, and farther right a faint ship silhouette sits near the waterline. The sky is pale and mostly empty. — Fig. 13.9

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Cliffs and Sea, Sainte-Adresse*, 1865. Black chalk on off-white laid paper; 206 × 314 mm (8 1/8 × 12 3/8 in.). The Art Institute of Chicago, Clarence Buckingham Collection, 1987.56.

Infrared imaging and X-radiography of Beach reveal other compositional changes as well. At an earlier stage of the composition Monet included an additional cluster of boats in the water along the right side of the canvas (fig. 13.10). Although subsequently painted out, these earlier crafts had sails that were similar in form and scale to those of the small- and medium-size leisure yachts in Regatta, although none equaled the size of the largest boat in the foreground of the Metropolitan Museum’s painting. More importantly, however, the sails on the earlier boats in Beach were white, indicating that they were pleasure boats, not dark-sailed fishing boats like those that appear in the final composition. By painting out these original white-sailed boats and replacing them with working boats, Monet changed the narrative of the painting from one that foregrounded the leisure class to one that features local life at Sainte-Adresse.
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Top area shows a wide, cloudy sky in shades of gray. Across the middle runs a calm body of water with several faint sailboats, and a low, dark shoreline stretches from left to right. In the foreground, rough ground meets the water, with two beached boats near the center-right. White L-shaped corner markers and notched bars frame all four corners of the scene. — X-Ray

A wide shoreline stretches under a cloudy sky in light and medium grays. From left to right along the horizon, low buildings and a pointed spire sit on a rise, then calm water fills the scene with several small sailboats carrying dark triangular sails and a few tiny rowboats; faint boats and figures appear far right in the distance. In the foreground left, a small boat rests on the pebbly beach near three people standing together; the shore curves to the right where two larger rowboats lie beached with an oar nearby. Objects shrink with distance, with foreground boats appearing large and the distant sails and people very small. — Infrared Reflectogram (1646nm)

Fig. 13.10

X-ray and infrared reflectogram (Surface Optics, 1646 nm) details of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

When Monet wrote to Bazille in June 1867, he described that “among my seascapes, I’m painting the regattas at Le Havre with lots of people on the beach and the ship lane covered with small sails.”^[21] While the Metropolitan Museum’s Regatta fits neatly into this characterization, it has always been difficult to reconcile the subject matter of Beach with Monet’s description, since the painting’s subject has little to do with regattas or the tourist population that gathered to watch them. The presence of vacationers and white-sailed boats in an earlier stage of the painting, however, suggests that Monet began the Art Institute’s picture within the framework that he outlined to Bazille and did not originally intend Beach and Regatta to vary to such a significant degree. It was only at a later stage in his painting process that Monet deliberately complicated the meaning of Beach and, more significantly, the dialogue it shares with the Metropolitan Museum’s picture.

Gloria Groom and Jill Shaw9

Technical Summary

Monet’s Beach at Sainte-Adresse was painted on a pre-primed linen canvas close in size to a no. 40 landscape (paysage) standard-size canvas. There are two ground layers: the lower layer is a light, warm gray, while the upper layer is a warm pinkish-beige. The pinkish-beige tone remains visible at the bottom edges and corners of the painting and in small areas throughout the composition where it is exposed through breaks in the brushwork.10

The beach, water, and sky, along with the central group of boats on the shore and the distant town, were built up simultaneously, with the figures added later. The dark-sailed fishing boats were included in the composition early on. Technical examination has revealed that at one point Monet included four or five figures and a group of sailboats and smaller crafts at the right side of the composition. The artist probably painted out these boats and figures before adding the group of fishermen and boats on the left. He painted these latter elements on top of the mostly finished beach, indicating that they were part of a later painting stage. Other, more minor alterations include the size and position of the three central boats on the beach, the buildings, and the contours of the fishermen.11

The presence of these compositional changes, combined with the fact that much of the painting consists of wet-over-dry paint application, indicates that the work was executed in several sessions. The artist employed a variety of brushwork, including more sweeping strokes in the water and the underpainting of the sky; short, individual strokes of opaque color to build up the beach; and localized passages of thicker, more textural wet-in-wet paint application. Final touches included light strokes, applied with a relatively dry brush, that skip across the high points of the underlying paint texture. Areas of artist’s “retouching” in the water, along the horizon at the right, and around the fishermen were among the final elements to be added to the painting, and they seem to have been used to cover traces of the earlier composition in those areas.^[22]
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Multilayer Interactive Image Viewer

The multilayer interactive image viewer is designed to facilitate the viewer’s exploration and comparison of the technical images (fig. 13.11).^[23]
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A broad gray, cloud-filled sky spans the top, meeting a straight horizon over turquoise water on the right. In the middle distance, several small sailboats with dark red-brown sails and a few rowboats sit on the water, while the shoreline curves left toward a town with low buildings and a tall spire. In the foreground, a white pebble beach holds multiple small boats, including a large blue boat at right and dark wooden boats at left; a few adults stand near the boats wearing dark coats and hats, and a seated pair in light clothing rests closer to the water. — Natural Light

At the top, a wide cloudy sky stretches across in light and medium gray. In the middle, calm water runs left to right with several small sailboats, their dark triangular sails clustered from center to right and fading toward the horizon. Along the bottom and left, a pebble beach holds beached boats in dark gray; three adults stand by a boat at the far left, a few smaller figures are near the waterline at center, and in the far left distance low buildings and a tall pointed tower sit on a low hill, with the foreground boats much larger than the distant boats and structures. — Infrared Reflectogram (1646 nm)

Top section shows a cloudy sky in light to medium grays over a low, straight horizon. Across the middle, a body of water spans left to right with small, faint silhouettes of several ships near the horizon. In the foreground, a textured shoreline fills the bottom band, with two larger rowboats resting side by side near the water’s edge, appearing bigger than the distant ships due to closeness. — X-Ray

From top to bottom, a patchy gray sky fills the upper half in shades of black, white, and gray. Along the center horizon, a shoreline with clustered buildings and a tall pointed tower sits to the left, while several small sailboats with dark triangular sails spread across the bright water. In the foreground, a rocky beach runs left to right with two beached rowboats near the center-right, one light and one darker, larger than the distant boats due to their closeness. On the far left and far right, silhouetted human figures stand near the water; facial features and age are not discernible. — Transmitted Infrared (1.0-1.1µm)

Top half shows a dark gray-blue cloudy sky over calm water stretching across the scene, with the horizon near the middle. Along the left shoreline, low hills with a few small structures descend to a pale, pebbly beach where several people stand near beached wooden boats. In the foreground from center to right, multiple rowboats sit on the shore, including a prominent blue boat; farther back on the water, several small sailboats with dark triangular sails are visible. The palette is mostly gray, black, and deep blue. — Raking Light

Top half shows a mottled blue and purple sky over a calm sea on the right, with the horizon running across the middle. Along the distant shore at left and center are low dark buildings and a tall spire, while small sailboats with dark triangular sails scatter across the water from center to right. In the foreground, a pale pebble beach runs left to right with several beached boats; a few small figures stand near a dark boat on the left, a person sits near the center shore, and a large blue boat rests near the water on the right, with foreground boats appearing larger than those farther away. — Ultraviolet

Foreground shows a pale, pebbly beach with several small boats, including a bright blue boat on the right and darker boats on the left. A few people stand near the boats on the left, with others closer to the water’s edge. Across the middle, dark blue water reflects pink highlights, and several small sailboats with black sails are scattered offshore. In the distance, a low shoreline with clustered buildings and a pointed tower runs left to center, under a wide gray, cloud-filled sky. — Transmitted Light

Fig. 13.11

Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

Signature

Signed and dated: Claude Monet 67 (lower right, name in dark-brown paint,^[24] year in reddish-purple paint^[25]) (fig. 13.12 and fig. 13.13).^[26] The signature and date were applied when the underlying paint was dry. The different colors of paint used for these two elements may indicate that they were added at different times.
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Top area shows a rough, light gray surface with soft patches of pale blue and lavender. Along the lower third, black cursive text reads “Claude Monet,” stretching from left-center toward right-center with a long flourish under the last letters. To the right of the name, smaller black digits read “67.” — Fig. 13.12

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the signature and date. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top half shows a light gray surface with a fine ridged texture. From left to right, irregular black curved lines form two clusters: at left, a thicker looping stroke with a short downward tail and speckled edges; at right, two thinner, separate curved marks angled diagonally. Faint pale blue and peach tones appear beneath the gray in places. Along the bottom edge runs a narrow tan band with a slightly raised seam separating it from the gray area above. — Fig. 13.13

Detail of the signature in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the different colors of paint used for it and the date. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Structure and Technique

Support

Canvas
Flax (commonly known as linen).^[27]
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Standard format
The original foldover dimensions are approximately 75 × 101 cm.^[28] The closest standard canvas size is no. 40 landscape (paysage) canvas, which measures 73 × 100 cm.
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Weave
Plain weave. Average thread count (standard deviation): 19.7V (1.3) × 22.9H (0.7) threads/cm; the horizontal threads were determined to correspond to the warp and the vertical threads to the weft.^[29] No weave matches were found with other Monet paintings analyzed for this project.
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Canvas characteristics
There is mild cusping along the left and right edges, with stronger cusping along the bottom and especially along the top edge. The top edge corresponds to the unprimed outer edge of the larger piece of primed fabric from which this canvas was cut (see Ground application/texture).
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Stretching

Current stretching: When the painting was lined in 1973, the original dimensions were slightly increased, leaving a border of unpainted ground visible around the edges (see Conservation History). The canvas is currently attached with copper tacks inserted mainly through the lining canvas, outside of the original tacking edges.19

Original stretching: There are two sets of old tack holes. The holes of one set, probably the original, are spaced approximately 5–7 cm apart, which corresponds to the cusping in the canvas. The second set probably relates to the stretching of the canvas after the earlier aqueous lining (see Conservation History).
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Stretcher/strainer
Current stretcher: Four-membered redwood ICA spring stretcher.21

Original stretcher: The 1973 treatment report notes that the previous stretcher was a “6-piece stretcher with crosspiece” (see Conservation History). Since the painting was lined with an aqueous adhesive at an unknown date prior to 1957, it is uncertain whether the stretcher mentioned in the 1973 report was the original or whether it dated to the aqueous lining. But vertical stretcher-bar cracks near the center of the painting suggest that the original stretcher was five membered, with a vertical crossbar only. The original stretcher depth is unknown.
22

Manufacturer’s/supplier’s marks
None observed in current examination or documented in previous examinations.
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Preparatory Layers

Sizing
Not determined, probably glue.^[30]
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Ground application/texture
There are two distinct ground layers (fig. 13.14). Both extend to the edges of the left, bottom, and right tacking margins but stop short of the top edge, where there is approximately 1 cm of unprimed canvas (fig. 13.15). This suggests that the canvas was cut from a larger piece of pre-primed fabric on the left, bottom, and right edges; the top edge probably corresponds to the edge of the larger canvas that was attached to the priming frame. The ground is relatively thick, measuring approximately 20–140 µm. It fills up the interstices of the canvas weave to some extent.
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Top edge shows a thin, light gray horizontal band with small black and occasional red specks, with a black area above it. Below this band, a tan to dark brown zone contains a dark circular center surrounded by several curved, concentric bands sweeping left to right. Left and bottom edges are filled with darker brown layered bands, and small bright white spots appear along the boundary between the gray band and the brown region. A white scale bar labeled 50 µm sits at the top right. — Monet 13.14 3(Monet_x1446_20x_dkfld_b)

Top half shows a pale gray and white clouded sky above turquoise-blue water on the right. On the left, a white pebbly beach runs from the foreground into the distance with patches of green on a low hill. In the lower left and mid-left, several small wooden boats rest on the sand, and a few small human figures stand or walk nearby; facial features and clothing details are not clear. Near the center-right foreground, a blue boat sits at the water’s edge, and farther out several small boats with dark sails dot the water. — Sample Location

Fig. 13.14

Photomicrograph of a cross section of the ground and canvas layers from the bottom tacking edge of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867). Original magnification: 200×. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Foreground shows a rectangular panel with a textured, fabric-like covering lying flat on a dark surface; the near edge runs horizontally across the middle. From left to right along this edge, a thin brown band wraps the side with worn spots and a small round copper-colored tack near the center. The top surface is light gray and slightly mottled, while the side is beige with a scuffed, frayed corner at the right; background areas are out of focus and dark. — Fig. 13.15

Detail of the top tacking edge of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the unprimed fabric at the canvas edge. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Color
Observing the painting microscopically, only the upper ground layer is visible. It has a warm pinkish-beige tone, which can be seen in small areas throughout the painting at breaks in the brushwork (fig. 13.16). Cross-sectional analysis shows another layer below the pinkish-beige one that is light gray in color (fig. 13.17).
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Pale gray covers most of the surface, with soft patches of light blue near the top and a band of peach-beige running along the lower area. On the lower left, a thick black curved stroke with speckled edges bends downward and to the right. Near the center-right, two much smaller, thin dark marks sit close together, one V-shaped and the other a short curved line. — Fig. 13.16

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the exposed pinkish-beige ground layer under the signature. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Dark, featureless space spans the top and bottom, while a thin, uneven off-white band stretches horizontally through the middle. Within the band, tiny black and reddish-brown specks are scattered left to right, with a few larger bright white patches; a small round hole sits slightly right of center and a smaller dark pit lies near the top edge of the band. The band is thicker on the left and near the center and narrows toward the right edge. A scale bar at the lower right reads 50 μm. — Monet 13.16 5(Monet_x1444_20x_DIC)

Cloudy sky with gray and white clouds spans the top, meeting a blue‑green sea at the middle horizon. Left to right along the shore, a pale, pebbly beach curves into the distance with a few small sailboats offshore. In the foreground, three beached rowboats rest on the sand—two dark boats at the far left and a larger blue boat near center‑right—with a few small people standing beside the boats. At the far left background, a low, grassy slope rises above the beach. — Sample Location

Fig. 13.17

Photomicrograph of a cross section of the ground layers of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing a light-gray layer (bottom) and a pinkish-beige layer (top). Original magnification: 200×. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Materials/composition
Both ground layers contain the same components: lead white, iron oxide red, bone black, silicate minerals, barium sulfate, quartz, and a calcium-based white; the relative proportions of these components vary between the two layers, however, which directly influences their color. The upper pinkish-beige layer contains a higher proportion of iron oxide red, silicate minerals, and barium sulfate, while the lower gray layer has a slightly higher proportion of bone black.^[31] Binder: Oil (estimated).27

Compositional Planning/Underdrawing/Painted Sketch

Extent/character
No underdrawing was detected with infrared reflectography (IRR); however, some black particulate material was observed microscopically in a few localized areas. To the left of the heads of the left and middle fishermen, there are a few concentrated areas of black particles deposited on the high points of the primed canvas between the ground and paint layers (fig. 13.18 and fig. 13.19). At the extreme left edge, directly above the boats, are three short lines at varying angles (fig. 13.20), where the black particles appear to be on top of or incorporated into the paint layer (fig. 13.21).^[32]
28

Left to right: an adult figure in a bright blue coat and cap with a red neck scarf holds a short dark pipe near the mouth; facial details are indistinct. To the right, an adult figure faces left, wearing a dark headwrap and light gray clothing with a dark strap across the chest. Both figures are shown from about chest height and stand close together at similar scale. The background is mostly white and pale gray with touches of pale blue, and two thin black squares overlay the scene—one near the left figure’s cap and one near the right figure’s neck. — Fig. 13.18

Detail of fishermen in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the locations of possible underdrawing material. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top section shows a tan surface with scattered pale blue-gray patches and tiny dark blue specks. Across the middle, raised light gray-white streaks run diagonally, with small clusters of deep blue particles in some grooves. Lower area has broader pale gray bands, a smoother look, and a small dark spot near the lower right, with a few thin hairline lines crossing vertically. A black scale bar at the bottom marks 2.0 mm for size reference. — Monet 13.8 Mic24

Top to bottom: a pale blue sky with a few tan streaks, then a wide band of white‑gray churning water. At the lower right, two adults stand behind a dark boat railing; the left person wears a bright blue coat and cap and holds a small dark object near the mouth, while the right person wears a light beige coat with a dark scarf, both facing slightly left. A dark hull and a thin vertical post appear along the bottom and right edges, with a small yellow patch on the hull; the figures are small in scale compared to the background. — Detail Location

Fig. 13.19

Photomicrograph of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing possible underdrawing between the ground and paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Cloudy gray sky fills the top, meeting a low horizon with distant buildings and a pointed spire on the left. A white, pebbled beach runs across the bottom; several small boats rest on shore, including a large blue boat in the right foreground and darker boats nearby, while multiple sailboats with dark red-brown sails are spread across the water. On the left foreground, three adults stand beside a beached boat and a fourth adult faces the water; near the center-left shoreline, two adults sit and stand at the edge. A grassy slope and houses line the far left, and the sea shifts from pale blue near shore to deeper turquoise toward the right. — Natural Light

Fig. 13.20

Detail of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing charcoal lines over the white paint near the edge. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top area shows a light gray-beige surface with small dark blue to purple specks and a few larger smudges on a slightly ridged, glossy texture. Across the center, shallow grooves run left to right with clusters of fine dark particles settled in them. Bottom area continues the same texture with scattered specks and a thin, hair-like strand along the left side. A scale bar at the lower right reads 2.0 mm, indicating the view spans only a few millimeters. — Monet 13.21 Mic 16

Most of the frame is black, with a small rectangular scene in the lower-left corner. In that scene, a dark boat deck with rails runs left to right in the foreground, and two adults stand near the rail: the left figure wears a bright blue coat and blue cap, and the right figure wears a light gray coat and a dark hat. Behind them, churning gray‑white water fills the background, with a slanted brown element at the far left edge. The figures are small relative to the overall frame and stand side by side facing toward the right. — Detail Location

Fig. 13.21

Photomicrograph of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing charcoal particles on top of the paint layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Medium/technique
Charcoal.^[33]29

Revisions
Possible underdrawing in the area of the fishermen’s heads could have formed part of an earlier outline of the beach, which appears to have been extended farther into the water in this area during painting (see Application/technique and artist’s revision). It is unclear what the marks at the left edge are related to.30

Paint Layer

Application/technique and artist’s revisions
The painting was worked up in several stages, with some significant changes made to the composition, particularly on the right side, where the artist originally included a number of figures and boats. The infrared reflectogram (IRR) reveals that an earlier version of the composition included four, or possibly five, figures on the shoreline near the right edge. The IRR clearly shows a trio of standing figures near the bottom-right corner (fig. 13.22): a male figure on the left and a couple on the right. These figures appear to be facing the water and were painted on a scale similar to or slightly larger than the three fishermen in the foreground of the finished painting. Some of the brushwork related to these figures is visible in the X-ray (fig. 13.23). With the use of transmitted infrared, a fourth figure to the left of the standing group comes to light (fig. 13.24).^[34] This figure, seemingly a male, appears to be sitting on the beach, and to his left, a similar but more ambiguous form could indicate a seated companion. A few microscopic traces of black paint were observed at the shoreline in the area of the seated male. The black paint appears to lie on top of the greenish-blue paint from the water and underneath the gray strokes of the beach (fig. 13.25). It is possible that the traces of black paint relate to the seated figure and were simply not covered by either the water that was painted over the figures or the later strokes added to the shoreline (fig. 13.26).
31

Top area shows a cloudy sky in light and dark gray. Below, calm water spans left to right with several small sailboats, most with dark triangular sails, appearing smaller toward the distant right shore. In the foreground, a pebbly beach runs across the bottom with several larger rowboats pulled onto the sand; at left, three adults stand by a boat and another adult faces the water, while nearer the center a seated pair is close to the shoreline and two faint figures stand in shallow water. Along the far left ridge, low buildings and a tower sit above the beach, with a pointed spire farther back on the horizon. — Infrared Reflectogram (Surface Optics, 1646 nm)

Fig. 13.22

Infrared reflectogram (Surface Optics, 1646 nm) detail of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing figures from an earlier composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top half shows a broad, cloudy sky in shades of gray. Across the middle, a calm body of water meets a low horizon, with faint silhouettes of several sailboats and a distant strip of buildings to the left. Bottom section features a rough, sandy or rocky shore with two small rowboats beached near the waterline. Rendered entirely in black, white, and gray tones. — X-Ray

Fig. 13.23

X-ray detail of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing brushwork related to figures in an earlier composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

At the top, a mottled gray sky stretches across, meeting a distant shoreline that runs left to right, with clustered buildings and a tall spire on the left. Across the middle, calm water holds several small sailboats with dark triangular sails. Along the bottom foreground, a rocky or pebbly shore shows several beached rowboats in light and dark gray tones, angled toward the water. Small human silhouettes stand near the shoreline—two or three grouped at the far left and one at the far right—spaced apart and smaller in scale than the boats. — Transmitted Infrared (Fuji, 1.0–1.1 µm)

Fig. 13.24

Transmitted-infrared (Fuji, 1.0–1.1 µm) detail of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

A rough, pale blue-gray surface fills the frame, marked with fine cracks and tiny pits. From top center to bottom center runs a jagged dark line with scattered black specks and a faint green tint along parts of its edges. Lighter ridges on the left and lower areas catch bright highlights. A scale bar at the bottom right reads 1.0 mm, indicating the features are very small. — Monet 13.25 Mic52

Most of the frame is solid black, with a small seascape in the bottom-left corner. From left to right along the bottom, pale gray-white surf meets light turquoise water dotted with darker teal patches; at the far left edge, a large blue object with a tan top juts in from the side. Near the lower center, a thin black rectangular box overlays the foamy shoreline. — Detail Location

Fig. 13.25

Photomicrograph of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing traces of black paint possibly related to a figure in an earlier composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

A close-up view of a textured surface shows soft blue-green at the top with fine hairline cracks. The center shifts to light lavender with scattered small dark greenish spots and thin fissures running across. The bottom third is off-white to pale cream with raised ridges and shiny highlights; a scale bar at the top right reads 5.0 mm, indicating a very small area. — Monet 13.26 Mic50

Most of the frame is black, with the visible scene confined to the lower-left corner. At the far left, a curved blue structure with a narrow tan strip along its top sits beside a wide area of light turquoise water dotted with darker teal patches that extend to the right. Along the bottom edge, a pale gray-white horizontal band is present, and a small black square appears near the bottom center over this band. — Detail Location

Fig. 13.26

Photomicrograph of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing black paint traces from an earlier composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Above the painted-out figures, farther out in the water, several forms indicate that the artist experimented with a variety of boats, including some large sailboats and smaller marine craft. In the X-ray, two large sails are visible near the horizon (fig. 13.27). Within the area of these large sails, three smaller sails, which seem to have been associated with smaller sailboats, are also visible. All of these forms probably contain a significant amount of lead white paint, based on their radio-opacity, especially when compared with the dark-sailed fishing boats in the final composition. At the extreme right edge, there appears to be another large sailboat. This is more difficult to discern in the X-ray, but it is evident in the infrared reflectogram (fig. 13.28). The artist also seems to have initially included some smaller boats without sails near the horizon and one slightly closer to the shore, which appears to carry two passengers. Moving left along the horizon, two more small sails are visible just to the right of the fishing boat from the final painting. On the left side of the fishing boat, among the smokestacks on the distant shore, it appears that the artist originally included a triangular flag (fig. 13.29) and, subsequently, more billowing smoke from the chimneys (fig. 13.30), which was then cursorily obscured with a few strokes of grayish paint (fig. 13.31). Passages of more-solid and slightly “mismatched” paint along the horizon seem to represent areas where the artist worked to cover over the earlier compositional elements. The small vessels were applied wet-on-wet over the blue-gray paint along the horizon (fig. 13.32).
32

Grayscale coastal scene with a wide, cloud-filled sky across the top. A low horizon runs left to right through the middle, showing a dark strip of distant shoreline and faint, triangle-like sail shapes on the water. The foreground is a pebbly shore occupying the lower half, with two medium-sized rowboats near the center-right; bright L-shaped corner markers appear in all four corners. — X-Ray

Top half shows a wide gray-blue sky filled with clouds over a calm turquoise sea. In the foreground from left to right, a white pebbly beach holds several beached rowboats, including a large bright-blue boat at center-right; at far left, three or four adults in dark clothing stand near boats, and a seated figure in white with a red accent is closer to the water. In the middle distance, small sailboats with dark red-brown sails cross the bay, and on the far left a green hillside leads to a coastal town with scattered buildings and a tall church spire. — Natural Light

Fig. 13.27

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing boats in an earlier composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

Top section shows a light- to medium-gray cloudy sky with a faint horizon line, where small boat shapes and a long vessel with a thin smoke plume are barely visible. Across the middle, calm water in medium gray holds two small sailboats with dark triangular sails near the left-center and a low craft at mid-right, with faint reflections below the closer boats. In the foreground, a pale-gray shoreline runs along the bottom, where a large beached rowboat sits at the lower left. At the lower right, three adult figures appear as dark-gray silhouettes wearing hats, standing side by side and facing the water. — Fig. 13.28

Infrared reflectogram (Surface Optics, 1646 nm) detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing boats in an earlier composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Upper half shows a sky in shades of black, white, and gray with a low, straight horizon. In the middle distance, a shoreline stretches left to right with small clustered buildings and a tall narrow spire on the left, while several small sailboats with dark triangular sails move across the water. Along the bottom foreground, a rocky shore holds a few rowboats pulled up near the edge, and several adult figures appear as dark silhouettes at the left and right; the rowboats are larger than the people, while the distant buildings are much smaller. — Transmitted Infrared

Fig. 13.29

Transmitted-infrared (Fuji, 1.0–1.1 µm) detail of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing sailboats and a flag in an earlier composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Foreground shows a pebbly beach in shades of gray with several small boats pulled up on the sand; at left, three adults stand beside a beached boat, with a few small objects nearby. Midground along the waterline, a person handles a small dinghy while multiple sailboats with dark triangular sails move across calm water; at the far right, two faint figures stand in the shallows. Background holds low shoreline buildings and trees with a tall spire rising near the left, and faint structures across the distant horizon. Above, a broad sky of layered clouds spans the scene. — Fig. 13.30

Infrared reflectogram (Surface Optics, 1646 nm) detail of smokestacks in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Light gray sky spans the top. Below it, a long dark gray band runs across the horizon with a few thin vertical shapes rising from it, including one near the center-right. The lower half shows pale blue-green water, and in the foreground two large dark triangular forms rise from the bottom edge, the right one taller than the left. — Fig. 13.31

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing traces of a flag and smoke from an earlier painting stage. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

At the top is a pale gray-blue sky. The middle has a dark blue horizon with several small dark silhouettes along it, including one slightly right of center with two upright sail shapes. Below, turquoise and light blue water fills most of the view with soft horizontal white streaks. The silhouettes appear small and distant, and no land is visible. — Fig. 13.32

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing where the artist added vessels over wet paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Other, more minor changes include the position and size of the three central boats on the shore. In the X-ray, the front boat appears smaller and is positioned at more of an angle, while the front end of the middle boat was originally slightly shorter (fig. 13.33). The farthest boat appears to have been a later addition, since the beach underneath it is more worked up than in the area of the other two boats. Some modifications are also visible in the buildings on the left side of the composition (fig. 13.34). For example, the large building at the top of the hill was originally in a lower position. To the immediate right, the two brownish-gray buildings, as well as the large house to the right of the spire, appear to have been added at a later stage, as they were painted over the sky, in contrast to the other buildings, which were incorporated into the composition from an early stage, with the sky built up around them. A slight adjustment may also have been made to the spire. The boats and the three fishermen on the left side of the work were all painted on top of the beach, indicating that they were later additions to the painting (fig. 13.35). Brushstrokes related to the beach continue underneath the figures (fig. 13.36). Changes to the figures seem to have involved either minor shifts in position or modifications in size. This is particularly evident around the blue jacket of the left fisherman and the center figure’s left shoulder (fig. 13.37). Around the blue jacket, it is clear that the artist wiped away some of the still-wet blue paint, leaving traces in the recesses of the underlying paint of the beach (fig. 13.38). It seems that the off-white paint of the beach was still soft when the blue paint was wiped away, as the peaks of the brushmarks appear smooth and flattened in the wiped areas. The artist then applied a few strokes of grayish paint, presumably to cover these paint residues (fig. 13.39 and fig. 13.40); this was not done precisely, however, and the paint residues remain clearly visible in places. The shoreline behind the fishermen seems to have been adjusted slightly, the pale-gray paint of the beach having been extended farther into the water (fig. 13.41). The erosion-prevention structures, placed at intervals perpendicular to the distant shore, were originally longer, perhaps suggesting a change in the water level (fig. 13.42).
33

Top area shows a wide, cloudy sky in gray tones. Across the middle, a body of water runs left to right with faint sailboats along the distant horizon, and a few small rowboats sit near the shore at lower center-right. The foreground is an uneven shoreline in varied grays. Bright brackets and edge markers are visible at all four corners around the scene. — X-Ray

Top half shows a wide gray, cloud-filled sky. Across the middle, turquoise water meets a curved shoreline; small sailboats with dark red or black sails dot the water, and on the left hillside sits a cluster of low buildings with a tall spire. In the foreground, a white pebble beach holds several beached wooden boats, including a large bright blue one with a yellow interior on the right and darker boats on the left. Near the left boats stand four adults in dark clothing, and closer to center a seated pair in white and pink rests by the water; the foreground boats appear largest while the people and distant boats are much smaller. — Natural Light

Fig. 13.33

X-ray and natural-light details of three boats on the beach in Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing changes made by the artist. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

Top half shows a broad, cloudy sky in light and medium grays, with a thin horizon line where a low strip of land and several small, faint triangular sails appear. Across the middle, a wide band of dark gray water stretches left to right. Along the bottom, a light gray, rough-textured shore holds two long, dark boats near the waterline, with a cluster of faint low shapes at the far left near the shore. Bright white L‑shaped bracket marks and ruler-like bands appear at all four corners and along the edges, framing the scene. — X-Ray

At the top, a gray, cloud-filled sky stretches across the scene, meeting a thin horizon. Below, light turquoise water borders a wide white-pebble beach running left to right. In the left foreground, three people stand beside two dark boats; toward the center-right, a bright blue boat and a tan boat sit on the shore, larger in scale than the distant vessels. In the background, multiple small sailboats with dark red and brown sails dot the water, with a town and a pointed church spire along the far-left shoreline. — Natural Light

Fig. 13.34

X-ray and natural-light details of buildings in Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing changes made by the artist. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

Top section shows a wide, cloud-filled sky in shades of gray, with a narrow, dark horizon line running left to right. The middle band is water, where several small, faint triangular sails are spaced across the distance. The bottom third is a rough shoreline, with two dark boats near the center-right and a cluster of low, dark shapes along the far left. The scene is monochrome in black, white, and gray tones. — X-Ray

At the top, a sky filled with gray clouds stretches across. In the middle, turquoise water occupies the right side with several small sailboats carrying dark red and brown sails, while the left and distant background show a coastline with clustered buildings and a tall pointed spire. In the foreground, a white pebble beach holds several beached small boats, including a bright blue boat beside tan and black boats; on the far left, three adults stand near a dark boat wearing coats and hats, and near the water two adults sit or kneel in light-colored clothing. The boats on the shore appear large compared with the smaller sails and buildings farther away. — Natural Light

Fig. 13.35

X-ray detail of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing fishermen and boats painted over the beach. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

Top area shows a pale blue-gray band, with a thin dark olive shape stretching horizontally near the upper right. Foreground left holds a person wearing a dark cap and a dark blue-black coat, facing left with a small portion of medium-tone face visible beneath the cap. Middle and lower areas contain curving off-white and light gray shapes with touches of pale yellow-green around the figure. The person appears large in the frame, while the distant dark strip is small. — Fig. 13.36

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing brushstrokes from the beach continuing underneath the figures. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Left to right: two adults appear from the waist up beside a long brown rail against a pale gray and light blue background. On the left, a person in a bright blue coat and cap with a red scarf holds a small dark pipe near the mouth. On the right, a bearded adult in an off-white shirt with brown suspenders and a dark hat faces the first person, hands resting on the rail, with a tall black post rising behind. Colors are primarily blue, white, brown, black, and red, with the figures large in the foreground. — Fig. 13.37

Detail of the fishermen in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing minor adjustments made by the artist around the edges of the figures. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top third shows a pale gray surface with scattered white specks and fine hairline cracks. Across the center, cream and dark blue streaks run horizontally from left to right. Bottom right features a deep blue triangular area with a near-black patch and thin light-colored cracks, with a few small tan spots near the lower left edge. A black scale bar labeled 5.0 mm sits along the lower right. — Monet 13.38 Mic26

Most of the frame is solid black. In the bottom-left, a small rectangular scene shows part of a person on the right side, seen from the shoulders up, wearing blue outerwear with a red scarf; the face is dim and details are unclear. To the left of the person is a pale gray-white area with faint yellow and light blue patches. A small black square outline appears near the shoulder closer to the center of this small scene. — Detail Location

Fig. 13.38

Photomicrograph of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing where the artist wiped away wet blue paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top left to center shows deep blue with scattered white and cream patches, crossed by fine cracks, transitioning into a large light gray area with shallow horizontal ridges. The right edge holds a tan-to-brown vertical band with wavy lines, while the bottom area mixes dark blue, black, and white in a mottled pattern. A scale bar at the bottom right reads 1.0 cm, indicating a close-up with features on the millimeter scale. — Monet 13.40 Mic32

Most of the frame is solid black, with a small rectangular scene in the bottom-left corner. In that scene, the top left area is blue next to off-white; the middle shows a brown horizontal band with light gray shapes above it and a dark gray area below, and a bright yellow curved shape near the lower center. On the left of the small scene sits a thin black outlined square, and on the right are dark vertical shapes with a narrow strip of gray along the bottom edge. The small scene occupies only a small fraction of the overall frame and is partially cropped. — Detail Location

Fig. 13.39

Photomicrograph of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing blue paint visible through the final touches added at the edge of the fisherman’s jacket. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

From left to right, a large gray-white area fills most of the space, with light gray swirls and small touches of pale blue. On the right, a tall blue shape with thin black lines and a small red patch near its top sits against the lighter area. Along the bottom edge, a narrow black-brown band runs beneath the blue shape; no clear figures or recognizable objects are defined. — Fig. 13.40

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing blue paint visible through the final touches added at the edge of the figure’s jacket. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

A black-and-white shoreline scene shows a wide, cloud-filled sky at the top. Across the middle, a calm body of water runs left to right with a low, dark strip of distant shore and faint small sailboats near the horizon. In the foreground, two larger rowboats sit on a rocky beach, with a small human figure near the waterline. White L-shaped brackets appear near all four corners, framing the view. — X-Ray

Foreground shows a pale, pebbled beach with several wooden boats pulled ashore; two dark boats sit at the left near a small group of people, and two more are at the right, including a bright blue one beside a tan one. Midground features calm turquoise water across a wide bay, with several small sailboats carrying dark red or black sails spaced from center to right; a seated pair is near the waterline at center. Background curves left to center with low green hills and clustered gray buildings, including a tall spire, and the upper half is filled with a broad gray sky mottled with lighter clouds. — Natural Light

Fig. 13.41

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing a possible change to the shoreline behind the fishermen. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

Top section shows a wide, cloudy sky in light to medium gray. Below it, a calm shoreline runs left to right; several small sailboats with dark triangular sails are on the water, while two larger rowboats sit beached in the right foreground. On the left foreground, three adults stand near a moored boat and a small shed; farther along the beach, a few small figures walk near the waterline. In the distant background, low buildings and a pointed steeple line a ridge, with more boats scattered across the horizon, all in shades of gray. — Infrared Reflectogram (1646nm)

Top half shows a cloudy gray and white sky over calm turquoise water. Along the horizon and mid-water, several small sailboats with dark red and brown sails move across the bay. In the foreground, a white pebble beach holds beached wooden boats, including a large blue boat at right and darker boats at center and left. On the left shoreline, four adults stand beside a boat, with a cluster of low buildings and a tall spire on a green rise behind them. — Natural Light

Fig. 13.42

Infrared reflectogram (Surface Optics, 1646 nm) and natural-light details of Monet’s The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (1867) showing changes made to the erosion-prevention structures on the distant shore. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439. Interactive image.

Most areas of the painting seem to consist of two or three pigments, usually mixed with lead white. Gray and darker-brown areas tend to have more complex pigment mixtures that incorporate earth pigments and black. The warm pinkish-beige tone of the upper ground layer is evident at the corners and edges of the painting, which are less finished than the rest of the composition (fig. 13.43). It also remains visible in small areas through open brushwork—for example, in the distant beach (fig. 13.44). The tone of the exposed ground appears to shift slightly depending on the colors applied adjacent to it. In general, the paint was built up in opaque strokes, with low-relief brushmarks visible across the surface (fig. 13.45). The painting includes both wet-over-dry (fig. 13.46) and localized areas of wet-in-wet paint application (fig. 13.47), but with little actual blending of colors on the canvas. There are some areas of thicker, more textural paint application—for example, in the white strokes of the seated couple (fig. 13.48). The middle fisherman was executed with thick, fluid paint, the strokes of which melded together (fig. 13.49). Several final strokes were applied with a light touch that skipped across the surface of the underlying paint texture. This can be seen in the white and green strokes of the water on the right side, where the artist may have applied these final touches as a way of breaking up the solidity of the paint in places where earlier compositional features were covered (fig. 13.50).
34

Figs. 13.43–13.50

Top section shows a thick, dark gray to black horizontal band with a thin blue-gray stripe running along its lower edge. Below it, most of the area is light gray with uneven, raised texture and scattered small darker gray marks. Near the bottom and along the left edge, patches of tan peek through; no recognizable objects or figures are present. — Fig. 13.43

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing areas of exposed pinkish-beige ground. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Upper section has streaks of gray and brown with a few dark, oval patches. Across the middle, bands of gray and brown run diagonally, and a small person in dark clothing with a blue accent stands left of center. The lower section forms a broad strip of light blue with touches of tan and gray, with the person much smaller in scale than the surrounding areas. — Fig. 13.44

Detail of the distant beach in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing areas of exposed pinkish-beige ground. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top left, the edge of a large dark object with a yellow band appears beside the lower legs of a person, shown from mid‑leg down, wearing black pants and dark boots. Center-right, a low greenish-brown mound sits on a pale gray ground. In the lower half, two small bucket-shaped objects rest on the ground—one brown near the lower left-center and one dark gray near the lower right—with the person standing behind them, making the buckets appear smaller by comparison. — Fig. 13.45

Detail of the fishermen’s baskets in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the texture of the brushwork. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

At the top, a cloudy sky shows light gray clouds with patches of pale blue. Across the middle, a thin band of dark gray shapes marks a distant shoreline, and on the blue-green water are two small sailboats with dark brown to nearly black sails—the one left of center smaller and the one near center-right larger—with a sliver of another sail at the far right edge. At the bottom, the water shows darker reflections beneath the visible boats. — Fig. 13.46

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the wet-over-dry application of paint in the sky. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top edge shows a dark brown-black horizontal band extending across the frame. Below it, most of the area is light gray and white with irregular swirling shapes and scattered patches of medium gray and faint blue. The surface appears uneven with raised ridges and small creases, most pronounced near the border with the dark band. No distinct objects or figures are visible. — Fig. 13.47

Detail of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the wet-in-wet application of paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top area is a flat pale blue background with a small dark mark near the upper left. In the center-right, two seated adults face right; the rear adult, with dark skin tone, wears a black hat and coat and holds a long yellow tube to their eyes. In front, another adult wears a straw-colored hat and white clothing, leaning back against the person behind. The lower area is an off-white ground with a red cloth near their legs and dark shoes pointing to the right. — Fig. 13.48

Detail of the seated couple in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the artist’s use of thick white paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

From left to right, three adults stand around a long, narrow brown object that spans the lower foreground. On the left, a person in a blue top holds a small dark item near their face; in the center, a bearded person in a dark cap and light gray shirt with brown suspenders leans forward with both hands on the object; on the right, a person in dark blue clothing and a cap faces toward the center. The background is mostly light gray, with a tall dark vertical pole near the middle. — Fig. 13.49

Detail of the middle fisherman in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing the application of thick, fluid paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Top area is pale blue‑gray. Across the middle and lower sections, many small, dark teal dash-like marks are scattered, each small compared to the overall area. A light gray band runs along the bottom edge, and a thin vertical brown line appears near the right edge. — Fig. 13.50

Detail of the water in Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) showing brushstrokes that skip across the surface of the underlying paint texture. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Painting tools
Brushes, including 1–2 cm wide, flat ferrule (based on width and shape of brushstrokes).35

Palette
Analysis indicates the presence of the following pigments: lead white, bone black, iron oxide reddish brown (burnt sienna), iron oxide red, iron oxide yellow, chrome yellow, cobalt blue, viridian, emerald green, vermilion, and red lake.^[35]36

Binding media
Oil (estimated).^[36]37

Surface Finish

Varnish layer/media
The painting has an even, relatively matte synthetic varnish, which was applied in 1973, after removal of a natural-resin varnish (see Conservation History). Residues of yellowed natural resin are visible in the recesses of the paint texture (particularly under ultraviolet light). It is uncertain when the natural-resin varnish was applied.38

Conservation History

The earliest examination report in the conservation file, which dates to 1957, indicates that the painting was already lined at that time. This is probably the aqueous lining referred to in the 1973 report. The painting is described as having an extremely discolored varnish layer and heavy surface grime.^[37] An unsigned note attached to this report indicates that the painting was cleaned in 1957.^[38]39

In 1973 discolored surface films and overpaint around the edges of the painting and over the wide-aperture drying cracks in the foreground boats and left-hand figure were removed. The aqueous lining was removed, and the canvas was wax-resin lined. The painting was restretched on a redwood ICA spring stretcher. An isolating varnish of polyvinyl acetate (PVA) AYAA was applied. Inpainting was carried out, and the final varnish, consisting of a layer of methacrylate resin L-46 and a layer of AYAA, was applied.^[39]40

Condition Summary

The work is in good condition overall. The canvas is wax-resin lined and is flat and stretched taut on the stretcher. The original tacking margins are present, but the edges have deteriorated and may have been trimmed in places; there are losses in the fabric at the bottom corners. The paint layer is in excellent condition, with only a few tiny paint losses. There is some slight flattening of thicker areas of paint, probably resulting from the lining. Localized abrasion and ground and paint loss are present around all of the original foldovers. There is a general network of light cracks over the paint surface. Stretcher-bar cracks are most visible in the area of the original vertical crossbar and the right stretcher bar. There are localized areas of drying cracks in some of the foreground figures and boats. There are a few small spots of retouching in the sky related to disruptions in the paint, which appear to be impressions made when the paint was still soft. Retouching has been applied to almost the entire perimeter of the painting, over losses at the original foldovers. Residues of discolored natural-resin varnish are visible throughout the paint surface. There are numerous localized areas of wax residue from the lining adhesive scattered throughout the surface of the painting. Fibers from the facing paper and/or cotton swabs are visible microscopically over the surface, as are several tiny accretions. The work has an even, relatively matte synthetic varnish layer.

Kimberly Muir41

Frame

Current frame (1999): The frame is not original to the painting. It is an English (Arnold Wiggins & Sons, London, 1999), Louis XVI Revival, gilt, scotia frame with egg-and-dart ornament, a stepped and beaded frieze, and a beveled sight. The wood is jelutong with compo ornament. The construction is mitered and nailed. The finish is water gilding over red-orange bole on gesso. The egg-and-dart ornament, the fillet, and the inner cove are burnished; the scotia side and the face and sight fillet and bevel are unburnished. The toning is with casein and oil (estimated). The molding, from perimeter to interior, is ribbon-and-reel compo outer molding; scotia side; stepped fillet; egg-and-dart compo molding; scotia; fillet with beaded compo ornament; cove; fillet; and beveled sight molding (fig. 13.51).^[40]
42

At the top, a gray-blue cloudy sky meets a calm turquoise sea at a distant horizon. From left to right along the shore, low green hills with small buildings and a tall spire lead to open water dotted with dark red-brown sailboats moving toward the center and right. In the foreground, a white pebble beach holds several beached rowboats—two dark boats at left and a bright blue boat near the right—with a few small figures standing or sitting near the water. An ornate gold frame surrounds the scene. — Fig. 13.51

Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) in its current frame. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Previous frame (installed after Nov. 1, 1933, until 1999): The work was previously housed in an American (New York), 1960/70 reproduction of a French Régence style frame. It was carved basswood with a water-gilt, distressed décapé finish (fig. 13.52).^[41]
43

Top half shows a cloudy gray-blue sky over calm light-blue water, with the horizon slightly below center. Left side features a curving shoreline with small human figures near dark moored boats and a distant town with low buildings and a tall spire. Foreground beach spans the bottom in light gray and beige, scattered with rocks and two beached rowboats—one blue at right-center and one gray just left of it—facing the sea. — Fig. 13.52

Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) in a previous frame (installed after Nov. 1, 1933). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.439.

Previous frame (installed by Apr. 6, 1932): The painting was previously housed in a late-nineteenth–early-twentieth-century reproduction of a Louis XVI ogee frame, gilded with cast plaster ornament (fig. 13.53 and fig. 13.54).^[42]44

Kirk Vuillemot45

Top area shows a light-colored wall with a narrow molding near the ceiling and a small rectangular plaque above a doorway. From left to right across the middle, a dark-framed doorway opens to a plain room with two windows; to its right hang three medium-sized, ornate-framed pictures evenly spaced on the wall. Bottom portion is a smooth, dark floor, with the edge of a dark wooden piece of furniture in the left foreground. Tones range from white and light gray on the walls to dark gray and black on the doorway, furniture, and floor. — Fig. 13.54

Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) in a previous frame, installed in *“A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture*, Art Institute of Chicago, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Feb. 28, 1873, for 400 francs.^[43]46

Probably sold by Durand-Ruel, Paris, to Jean-Baptiste Faure, Paris, by 1876.^[44]47

Sold by Jean-Baptiste Faure, Paris, to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Jan. 9, 1893, for 7,000 francs.^[45]48

Sold by Durand-Ruel, Paris, to Henri Véver, Paris, Jan. 17, 1893, for 8,000 francs.^[46]49

Sold at the Henri Véver, Paris, sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Feb. 1–2, 1897, lot 79, to Boulley, as the agent for Georges Kohn, Paris, for 9,000 francs.^[47]50

Sold by Georges Kohn, Paris, jointly to Durand-Ruel, Paris, and Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, June 11, 1920, for 40,000 francs.^[48]51

Sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn, Chicago, Feb. 8, 1923.^[49]52

Bequeathed by Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn (died 1932), Chicago, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.
53

Possibly London, Durand-Ruel, Eighth Exhibition of the Society of French Artists, spring 1874, cat. 142, as Ste Adresse near Havre.^[50]54

Paris, 11, rue Le Peletier, 2e exposition de peinture [second Impressionist exhibition], Apr. 1876, cat. 151, as La Plage à Sainte-Adresse. Appartient à M. Faure.55

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Claude Monet—A. Rodin, June 21–Sept. 21, 1889, cat. 5, as Sainte-Adresse. 1867.^[51]56

Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, Apr. 6–Oct. 9, 1932, cat. 19 (ill.).57

Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933, cat. 292 (fig. 13.55).^[52]58

A gallery room with a light gray wall and dark floor; a horizontal molding runs across the wall at mid-height. From left to right: a dark doorway with a small rectangular plaque above it, then three medium pictures in decorative frames hung in a row on the right half of the wall, with a fourth frame partly visible at the far left edge; through the doorway, another room shows two windows. A dark, boxy piece of furniture sits in the lower left foreground. — Fig. 13.55

Installation of Monet’s *The Beach at Sainte-Adresse* (1867) in *“A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture*, Art Institute of Chicago, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

City Art Museum of St. Louis, Paintings by French Impressionists (1860–1880), Apr. 17–May 16, 1934, no cat.^[53]59

Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture for 1934, June 1–Oct. 31, 1934, cat. 210.^[54]60

Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, Nov. 1934, cat. 8 (paintings).^[55]61

Kansas City, Mo., William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, French Impressionist Landscape Painting, Nov. 29–Dec. 30, 1936, cat. 23 (cover ill.).^[56]62

Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpiece of the Month, June 30–July 31, 1945, no cat.^[57]63

Kunsthaus Zürich, Claude Monet: 1840–1926, May 10–June 15, 1952, cat. 11 (ill.); Paris, Galerie Beaux-Arts, June 19–July 17, 1952, cat. 8 (ill.); The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, July 24–Sept. 22, 1952, cat. 9 (ill.).64

Art Institute of Chicago, The Paintings of Claude Monet, Apr. 1–June 15, 1957, no cat. no.^[58]65

City Art Museum of St. Louis, Claude Monet: A Loan Exhibition, Sept. 25–Oct. 22, 1957, cat. 4 (ill.); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Nov. 1–Dec. 1, 1957.66

San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Painters by the Sea, July 1–30, 1961, no cat.; Santa Barbara (Calif.) Museum of Art, Aug. 8–Sept. 3, 1961.^[59]67

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Monet, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975, cat. 10 (ill.).68

Northampton, Mass., Smith College Museum of Art, Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists: Painters of the Ecole Saint-Siméon, Oct. 15–Dec. 5, 1976, cat. 90 (ill.); Williamstown, Mass., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Dec. 17, 1976–Feb. 13, 1977.69

Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Hommage à Claude Monet (1840–1926), Feb. 8–May 5, 1980, cat. 16 bis (ill.).70

Albi, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Trésors impressionnistes du Musée de Chicago, June 27–Aug. 31, 1980, cat. 9 (ill.).71

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, June 28–Sept. 16, 1984, cat. 6 (ill.); Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 23, 1984–Jan. 6, 1985; Paris, Galeries Nationales d’Exposition du Grand Palais, as L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, Feb. 4–Apr. 22, 1985.72

Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, Jan. 17–Apr. 6, 1986, cat. 31 (ill.); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, Apr. 19–July 6, 1986.73

Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), State Hermitage Museum, Ot Delakrua do Matissa: Shedevry frantsuzskoi zhivopisi XIX–nachala XX veka, iz Muzeia Metropoliten v N’iu-Iorke i Khudozhestvennogo Instituta v Chikago [From Delacroix to Matisse: Masterpieces of French Painting of the Nineteenth to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Art Institute of Chicago], Mar. 15–May 16, 1988, cat. 27 (ill.); Moscow, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, May 30–July 30, 1988.^[60]74

Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, Apr. 19–Aug. 8, 1994, cat. 136 (ill.); New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, as Origins of Impressionism, Sept. 27, 1994–Jan. 8, 1995.75

Art Institute of Chicago, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, July 22–Nov. 26, 1995, cat. 12 (ill.).76

Art Institute of Chicago, Manet and the Sea, Oct. 20, 2003–Jan. 19, 2004, cat. 97 (ill.); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Feb. 15–May 30, 2004; Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, June 18–Sept. 26, 2004.77

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Monet in Normandy, June 17–Sept. 17, 2006, cat. 5 (ill.); Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, Oct. 15, 2006–Jan. 14, 2007; Cleveland Museum of Art, Feb. 18–May 20, 2007 (Cleveland only).78

London, Royal Academy of Arts, Impressionists by the Sea, July 7–Sept. 30, 2007, cat. 32 (ill.); Washington, D.C., Phillips Collection, Oct. 20, 2007–Jan. 13, 2008; Hartford, Conn., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Feb. 9–May 11, 2008.79

Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, Sept. 22, 2010–Jan. 24, 2011, cat. 16 (ill.).
80

Possibly “Notice of the Exhibition of the Society of French Artists, New Bond Street,” Times, Apr. 27, 1874. Reprinted in Kate Flint, ed., Impressionists in England: The Critical Reception (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984), p. 35.^[61]81

Possibly Durand-Ruel, London, Eighth Exhibition of the Society of French Artists, exh. cat. (Durand-Ruel, 1874), p. 11, cat. 142.^[62]82

Marius Chaumelin, “Actualités: L’exposition des intransigeants,” La gazette des étrangers, Apr. 8, 1876, pp. 1–2. Reprinted in Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), p. 67.83

Emile Blémont, “Les impressionnistes,” Le rappel, Apr. 9, 1876, pp. 2–3. Reprinted in Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), p. 63.84

Arthur Baignières, “Exposition de peinture par un groupe d’artistes, rue Le Peletier, II,” L’écho universel, Apr. 13, 1876, p. 3. Reprinted in Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), p. 55.^[63]85

Pierre Dax, “Chronique,” L’artiste, May 1, 1876, p. 348. Reprinted in Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), p. 70.^[64]86

Catalogue de la 2e exposition de peinture, exh. cat. (Alcan-Lévy, 1876), p. 15, cat. 151.87

Galerie Georges Petit, Claude Monet; A. Rodin, exh. cat. (Imp. de l’Art, 1889), p. 27, cat. 5. Reprinted in Theodore Reff, ed., Miscellaneous Group Exhibitions, Modern Art in Paris 34 (Garland, 1981), n.pag.88

Gustave Geffroy, “Claude Monet,” L’art et les artistes 2, 11 (Nov. 1920), p. 64 (ill.).89

Gustave Geffroy, Claude Monet: Sa vie, son temps, son oeuvre (G. Crès, 1922), pp. opp. 40 (ill.), 59, 62, 71, 118, 262.^[65]90

Camille Mauclair, Claude Monet (F. Rieder, 1924), p. 36, pl. 6. Translated by J. Lewis May as Claude Monet (Dodd, Mead, 1924), p. 42, pl. 6.91

Xenia Lathom, Claude Monet (Philip Allan, 1931), p. 47, pl. 6.92

Eleanor Jewett, “Noted Private Art Collection on Exhibition,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Apr. 6, 1932, p. 19 (ill.).93

“Masterpieces of the French Impressionists from the Collection of Mrs. L. L. Coburn Being Exhibited for the First Time at the Art Institute of Chicago,” Fine Arts 19, 1 (June 1932), p. 22 (ill.).94

Daniel Catton Rich, “The Bequest of Mrs. L. L. Coburn,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 26, 6 (Nov. 1932), pp. 66, 67 (ill.), 68.95

“Annie S. Coburn Estate Is Given $888,982 Value,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 19, 1932, p. 16.96

Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1932), pp. 18, no. 19; 47, no. 19.97

Daniel Catton Rich, “The Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection,” in Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1932), p. 7.98

Art Institute of Chicago, Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago: Report for the Year Nineteen Hundred Thirty-Two 27, 3 (Mar. 1933), p. 24 (ill.).99

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of “A Century of Progress”: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture; Lent from American Collections, ed. Daniel Catton Rich, 3rd ed., exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1933), p. 43, cat. 292.100

Roger Brielle, “Le visage de la France vu par nos artistes: III. La Normandie,” L’art et les artistes 28, 143 (Jan. 1934), p. 129 (ill.).101

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of “A Century of Progress”: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1934, ed. Daniel Catton Rich, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1934), pp. 36–37, cat. 210.102

Toledo Museum of Art, Catalogue: French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, exh. cat. (Toledo Museum of Art, 1934), n.pag., cat. 8 (paintings).103

Art Institute of Chicago, A Brief Illustrated Guide to the Collections (Art Institute of Chicago, 1935), p. 28.^[66]104

William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, “Exhibition of French Impressionist Landscape Paintings,” William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts News Flashes 3, 2 (Dec. 1, 1936), p. 2.105

William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum, Exhibition: French Impressionist Landscape Painting, exh. cat. (William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum, 1936), cover (ill.); p. 6, cat. 23.106

Lionello Venturi, Les archives de l’impressionnisme: Lettres de Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley et autres; Mémoires de Paul Durand-Ruel; Documents, vol. 2 (Durand-Ruel, 1939), p. 257.107

Art Institute of Chicago, “List of Exhibitions,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 39, 4 (Apr.–May 1945), p. 64.108

John Rewald, The History of Impressionism (Museum of Modern Art/Simon & Schuster, 1946), p. 137 (ill.).109

Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1948), p. 34.110

Oscar Reuterswärd, Monet: En konstnärshistorik (Bonniers, 1948), p. 281.^[67]111

Art Institute of Chicago, “Notes,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 34, 1 (Feb. 1949), p. 15.112

Kenneth Clark, Landscape into Art (John Murray, 1949), pp. xiii; 88, pl. 81.^[68]113

Daniel Catton Rich, “Midwest Art Capital,” Town and Country 105 (Mar. 1951), p. 75 (ill.).114

Kunsthaus Zürich, Claude Monet: 1840–1926, with a foreword by Georges Besson and René Wehrli, exh. cat. (Kunsthaus Zürich, 1952), pl. 4; p. 19, cat. 11.115

Haags Gemeentemuseum, Claude Monet, with an introduction by George Besson, exh. cat. (Gemeentemuseum, 1952), cat. 9 (ill.).116

Meyer Schapiro, Paul Cezanne (Abrams, 1952), pp. 11 (ill.), 12.117

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet, exh. cat. (Galerie Beaux-Arts, 1952), pp. 14, cat. 8 (ill.); 59.118

Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1956), p. 34.119

Art Institute of Chicago, “Homage to Claude Monet,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), pp. 22 (ill.), 24.120

Art Institute of Chicago, “Chronology,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 28.121

Art Institute of Chicago, “Catalogue,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 33122

Art Institute of Chicago, “Exhibitions,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 36.123

Claude Monet: A Loan Exhibition, exh. cat. (Minneapolis Society of the Fine Arts, 1957), p. 45, cat. 4 (ill.).124

William C. Seitz, “Claude Monet’s View of Nature,” in Claude Monet: A Loan Exhibition, exh. cat. (Minneapolis Society of the Fine Arts, 1957), pp. 16, 21, 24.125

Denis Rouart, Claude Monet, trans. James Emmons (Skira, 1958), p. 38 (ill.).126

William C. Seitz, Claude Monet (Abrams, 1960), pp. 74, 75 (ill.).127

Arthur Millier, “Summer Relief: ‘Painters by the Sea,’” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 27, 1961, p. N18 (ill.).128

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), pp. 278 (ill.), 318.^[69]129

Frederick A. Sweet, “Great Chicago Collectors,” Apollo 84, 55 (Sept. 1966), pp. 201, fig. 32; 202–03.130

Joel Isaacson, “The Early Paintings of Claude Monet” (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1967), pp. xii, 183–84, 185.^[70]131

Edward Barry, “The Institute That Art Built,” Chicago Tribune, Mar. 2, 1969, p. 84.132

Charles C. Cunningham and Satoshi Takahashi, Shikago Bijutsukan [Art Institute of Chicago], Museums of the World 32 (Kodansha, 1970), p. 55, cat. 41 (ill.); 160–61.133

John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (Abrams, 1970), pp. 80 (ill.), 81.^[71]134

Anthea Callen, “Jean-Baptiste Faure, 1830–1914: A Study of a Patron and Collector of the Impressionists and Their Contemporaries with a Catalogue of His Collection” (M.A. thesis, University of Leicester, 1971), pp. 28; 325–26, cat. 437.^[72]135

Gerald Needham, “The Paintings of Claude Monet, 1859–1878” (Ph.D. diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1971), pp. 88–89; 154–57; fig. 42.136

Denis Rouart, “Apparences et reflets,” in Denis Rouart and Jean-Dominique Rey, Monet, nymphéas, ou Les miroirs du temps, with a cat. rais. by Robert Maillard (Hazan, 1972), p. 40.^[73]137

Kermit Swiler Champa, Studies in Early Impressionism (Yale University Press, 1973), pp. 19; 20, fig. 26.138

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 1, Peintures, 1840–1881 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1974), pp. 38; 162; 163, cat. 92 (ill.).139

M. Therese Southgate, “About the Cover,” JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 232, 4 (Apr. 28, 1975), cover (ill.); p. 340 (ill.).140

M. Therese Southgate, “About the Cover,” JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 233, 3 (July 21, 1975), p. 259.141

Horst Keller, Die Kunst der französischen Impressionisten (Herder, 1975), pp. 54; 128–29, pl. 80; 269.142

Mike Samuels and Nancy Samuels, Seeing with the Mind’s Eye: The History, Techniques, and Uses of Visualization (Random House, 1975), p. 70 (ill.).143

Grace Seiberling, “The Evolution of an Impressionist,” in Paintings by Monet, ed. Susan Wise, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 30.144

Susan Wise, ed., Paintings by Monet, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 64, cat. 10 (ill.).145

Charles C. Cunningham, Susan D. Peters, and Kathleen Zimmerer, Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists: Painters of the Ecole Saint-Siméon, exh. cat. (Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1977), pp. 23; 134, cat. 90 (ill.); 135.146

Art Institute of Chicago, 100 Masterpieces (Art Institute of Chicago, 1978), pp. 22; 90–91, fig. 48.147

Luigina Rossi Bortolatto, L’opera completa di Claude Monet, 1870–1889, Classici dell’arte 63 (Rizzoli, 1972), pp. 89, cat. 19 (ill.); 90.148

Roger Terry Dunn, “The Monet-Rodin Exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1889” (Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1978), pp. 78, 246.149

Gaëtan Picon, The Birth of Modern Painting (Skira, 1978), pp. 62–63 (ill.), 118.150

J. Patrice Marandel, The Art Institute of Chicago: Favorite Impressionist Paintings (Crown, 1979), pp. 52–53 (ill.).151

J. Patrice Marandel, “New Installation of Earlier Paintings,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 73, 1 (Jan.–Feb. 1979), p. 15 (ill.).152

Brian Petrie, Claude Monet: The First of the Impressionists (Phaidon, 1979), pp. 31–32, pl. 26; 33.153

Hélène Adhémar, Anne Distel, and Sylvie Gache, Hommage à Claude Monet (1840–1926), exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1980), pp. 80; 82, cat. 16 bis (ill.).154

Diane Kelder, The Great Book of French Impressionism (Abbeville, 1980), pp. 182 (ill.), 437.155

Musée Toulouse-Lautrec and Art Institute of Chicago, Trésors impressionnistes du Musée de Chicago, exh. cat. (Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, 1980), pp. 31, no. 9 (ill.); 67.156

Andrea P. A. Belloli, ed., A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 364.157

Sylvie Gache-Patin, “Private and Public Gardens,” in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, ed. Andrea P. A. Belloli, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 217.158

Sylvie Gache-Patin and Scott Schaefer, “Impressionism and the Sea,” in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, ed. Andrea P. A. Belloli, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 276.159

Scott Schaefer, “The French Landscape Sensibility,” in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, ed. Andrea P. A. Belloli, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), pp. 58; 62; 66; 69, no. 6 (ill.).160

Scott Schaefer, “L’évasion loin de Paris,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985), p. 342.161

Scott Schaefer, “The Retreat from Paris,” in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, ed. Andrea P. A. Belloli, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 312.162

Sylvie Gache-Patin, “Jardins privés et jardins publics,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985), p. 222.163

Sylvie Gache-Patin and Scott Schaefer, “La mer,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985), p. 295.164

Scott Schaefer, “Le paysage dans la peinture française au cours des années 1860,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985), pp. 46; 48; 54–55, no. 6 (ill.).165

Richard Shiff, Cézanne and the End of Impressionism: A Study of the Theory, Technique, and Critical Evaluation of Modern Art (University of Chicago Press, 1984), pp. 108; 110–11, fig. 21; 116.166

John House, “Monet and the Genesis of His Series,” in Auckland City Art Gallery, Claude Monet: Painter of Light, exh. cat. (Auckland City Art Gallery/NZI, 1985), pp. 12; 13, fig. 3.167

Hollis Clayson, “A Failed Attempt,” in The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, ed. Charles S. Moffett, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986), p. 147.168

Charles S. Moffett, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986), pp. 162; 163; 180, cat. 31 (ill.).169

Richard R. Brettell, French Impressionists (Art Institute of Chicago/Abrams, 1987), pp. 10 (detail), 11, 12 (ill.), 118.170

Douglas Skeggs, River of Light: Monet’s Impressions of the Seine (Victor Gollancz, 1987), pp. 37, 39 (ill.).171

Robert L. Herbert, Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society (Yale University Press, 1988), pp. 264–65, pl. 267 (detail); 265; 284; 289, pl. 295; 290; 292; 296.172

Ministry of Culture; State Hermitage Museum; Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Art Institute of Chicago, Ot Delakrua do Matissa: Shedevry frantsuzskoi zhivopisi XIX–nachala XX veka, iz Muzeia Metropoliten v N’iu-Iorke i Khudozhestvennogo Instituta v Chikago [From Delacroix to Matisse: Masterpieces of French Painting of the Nineteenth to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Art Institute of Chicago], trans. from English by Iu. A. Kleiner and A. A. Zhukov, exh. cat. (Avrora, 1988), pp. 76–77, cat. 27 (ill.).173

Francesco Arcangeli, Monet (Nuova Alfa, 1989), pp. 29–30; 82, fig. 8.174

Michael Howard, Monet (Brompton, 1989), p. 50 (ill.).175

Richard Kendall, ed., Monet by Himself: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels, Letters, trans. Bridget Strevens Romer (Macdonald Orbis, 1989), pp. 43 (ill.), 317.176

Musée Rodin, Claude Monet; Auguste Rodin: Centenaire de l’exposition de 1889, exh. cat. (Musée Rodin, 1989), pp. 53, 74 (ill.).177

Jacques Vilain, “Les débuts (1840–1870),” in Musée Rodin, Claude Monet; Auguste Rodin: Centenaire de l’exposition de 1889, exh. cat. (Musée Rodin, 1989), p. 111.178

Alvin Martin and Judi Freeman, “The Distant Cousins in Normandy: Braque, Dufy, and Friesz,” in Judi Freeman, The Fauve Landscape, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Abbeville, 1990), p. 226, pl. 237.179

Denis Rouart, Monet (Nathan, 1990), p. 23 (ill.).180

Karin Sagner-Düchting, Claude Monet, 1840–1926: Ein Fest für die Augen (Benedikt Taschen, 1990), pp. 36–37 (ill.), 38. Translated by Karen Williams as Claude Monet, 1840–1926: A Feast for the Eyes (Taschen, 2004), pp. 36–37 (ill.), 38.181

John Russell Taylor, Impressionist Dreams: The Artists and the World They Painted (Barrie & Jenkins, 1990), p. 59 (ill.).182

Stanley David Gedzelman, “Weather Forecasts in Art,” Leonardo 24, 4 (1991), pp. 446; 447, fig. 6.183

Stanley David Gedzelman, “The Sky in Art,” Weatherwise 44, 6 (Dec. 1991/Jan. 1992), pp. 10 (ill), 11, 12.184

Norma Broude, Impressionism: A Feminist Reading (Rizzoli, 1991), pp. 24; 93, pl. 13.185

Charles S. Moffett, “Sainte-Adresse,” in National Gallery of Art, Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1991), p. 154.186

Hermann Bauer, Hubert Burda, and Christa Maar, eds., “Impressionismus: Spurensuche für die Jahrhundertwende,” special issue, Pan 1 (1992), p. 4 (ill.).187

Sophie Fourny-Dargère, Monet, Profils de l’art (Chêne, 1992), pp. 148, fig. 13; 156.188

Sylvie Patin, Monet: “Un oeil … mais, bon Dieu, quel oeil!” (Gallimard/Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1991), pp. 12–13 (detail). Translated by Anthony Roberts as Monet: The Ultimate Impressionist (Abrams, 1993), pp. 12–13 (detail).189

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures: Dessins; Pastels; Index (Wildenstein Institute, 1991), p. 23, cat. 92.190

Virginia Spate, Claude Monet: Life and Work (Rizzoli, 1992), pp. 46–47, (ill.) 43, 48, 115, 117, 154.191

Art Institute of Chicago, Treasures of 19th- and 20th-Century Painting: The Art Institute of Chicago, with an introduction by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Abbeville, 1993), p. 50 (ill.).192

Robert L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867–1886 (Yale University Press, 1994), pp. ii (detail); 10; 11; 12, fig. 13.193

Henri Lallemand, Monet: Impressions of Light (Todtri, 1994), pp. 23, 39 (ill.).194

Steven Z. Levine, Monet, Narcissus, and Self-Reflection: The Modernist Myth of the Self (University of Chicago Press, 1994), pp. 30; 33, fig. 28; 93; 116.195

Henri Loyrette and Gary Tinterow, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994), pp. 296; 322; 430, fig. 88 (cat. 136).196

Nancy Nunhead, Claude Monet (Barnes & Noble/Brompton, 1994), p. 34 (ill.).197

Denis Thomas, Monet on Location (Regency House, 1994), pp. 2–3 (detail), 10–11 (ill.), 12.198

Gary Tinterow, “Le paysage réaliste,” in Henri Loyrette and Gary Tinterow, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994), pp. 66; 67, fig. 88 (cat. 136), translated as Gary Tinterow, “The Realist Landscape,” in Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette, Origins of Impressionism, exh. cat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/Abrams, 1994), pp. 66; 67, fig. 88 (cat. 136).199

Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette, Origins of Impressionism, exh. cat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/Abrams, 1994), pp. 296; 322; 432, fig. 88 (cat. 136); 433.200

Grace Seiberling, “Monet’s Hauling a Boat, Honfleur,” Porticus: Journal of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester 17–19 (1994–96), pp. 42; 43, fig. 4.201

Andrew Forge, Monet, Artists in Focus (Art Institute of Chicago, 1995), pp. 9–10; 12–13; 28–29; 73, pl. 2; 106.202

John House, “Framing the Landscape,” in John House, with contributions from Ann Dumas, Jane Mayo Roos, and James F. McMillan, Landscapes of France: Impressionism and Its Rivals, exh. cat. (Hayward Gallery, 1995), pp. 12; 15, fig. 1.^[74]203

Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), pp. 34, cat. 12 (ill.); 201; 218.204

John Russell Taylor, Claude Monet: Impressions of France from Le Havre to Giverny (Collins & Brown, 1995), pp. 22–23 (detail).205

Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale University Press, 1995), pp. 26–27, pl. 36.206

Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), pp. 50, 55, 63, 67, 70.207

Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, Documentation, vol. 2, Exhibited Works (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), pp. 40, cat. II–151; 57 (ill.); 289.208

John House, “The View from Le Havre: Painters and the Seine Estuary,” in Boudin to Dufy: Impressionist and Other Masters from the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Havre, exh. cat. (Scolar Press/Hove Museum and Art Gallery/Southampton City Art Gallery, 1996), p. 20, fig. 8.209

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais., vol. 1 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 68.210

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 49, cat. 92 (ill.).211

Anne-Marie Bergeret-Gourbin, Monet: La Normandie (Herscher, 1997), p. 22 (ill.).212

Meyer Schapiro, Impressionism: Reflections and Perceptions (Braziller, 1997), pp. 69–70, fig. 20.213

M. Therese Southgate, The Art of JAMA: One Hundred Covers and Essays from the Journal of the American Medical Association (Mosby, 1997), p. 8 (ill.).214

Dianne W. Pitman, “Overlapping Frames,” in Monet and Bazille: A Collaboration, ed. David A. Brenneman, exh. cat. (High Museum of Art/Abrams, 1998), pp. 53; 55, fig. 26.215

Phaedra Siebert, chronology in Monet and Bazille: A Collaboration, ed. David A. Brenneman, exh. cat. (High Museum of Art/Abrams, 1998), p. 99.216

Art Institute of Chicago, Master Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Hudson Hills, 1999), p. 50 (ill.).217

Art Institute of Chicago, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Hudson Hills, 2000), p. 32 (ill.).218

Belinda Thomson, Impressionism: Origins, Practice, Reception (Thames & Hudson, 2000), pp. 99, ill. 92; 266.219

Karl F. Nordstrom and Nancy L. Jackson, “Using Paintings for Problem-Solving and Teaching Physical Geography: Examples from a Course in Coastal Management,” Journal of Geography 100, 5 (Sept.–Oct. 2001), pp. 143; 144, fig. 3; 145; 146.220

Maria Teresa Benedetti, Monet: I luoghi (Giunti, 2001), p. 6 (ill.).221

Norio Shimada and Keiko Sakagami, Kurōdo Mone meigashū: Hikari to kaze no kiseki [Claude Monet: 1881–1926] (Nihon Bijutsu Kyōiku Sentā, 2001), vol. 1, p. 37, no. 16 (ill.); vol. 2, p. 184.222

Richard R. Brettell, From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism, vol. 1 (Teaching Co., 2002), pp. 61, 63, 71.223

María Escribano, Juan Pérez de Ayala, and Óscar Alonso Molina, La marina (Carroggio, 2002), pp. 75, 76 (ill.).224

Sylvie Patin, L’impressionnisme (Bibliothèque des Arts, 2002), p. 27.225

John House, “The Viewer on the Beach,” in Soil and Stone: Impressionism, Urbanism, Environment, ed. Frances Fowle and Richard Thomson (Ashgate, 2003), pp. 8; 9, fig. 1.2.226

John Leighton, “Claude Monet,” in Juliet Wilson-Bareau and David Degener, Manet and the Sea, exh. cat. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2003), pp. 203–04.227

Juliet Wilson-Bareau and David Degener, Manet and the Sea, exh. cat. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2003), pp. 215, pl. 97; 258.228

John Leighton, Edouard Manet: Impressions of the Sea (Van Gogh Museum, 2004), pp. 47; 50, fig. 44.229

Norio Shimada, Inshoha bijutsukan [The history of Impressionism] (Shogakukan, 2004), p. 76 (ill.).230

Vanessa Gavioli, ed., Monet, Art Classics (Rizzoli, 2005), pp. 72–73 (ill.), 180 (ill.).^[75]231

Roberto Tassi, “Monet’s Studio,” in Monet, ed. Vanessa Gavioli, Art Classics (Rizzoli, 2005), pp. 10–11 (detail).232

Richard R. Brettell and Stephen F. Eisenman, Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum, vol. 1 (Norton Simon Art Foundation/Yale University Press, 2006), p. 137, fig. 33a.233

Heather Lemonedes, Lynn Federle Orr, and David Steel, Monet in Normandy, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/North Carolina Museum of Art/Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006), pp. 58; 61, cat. 5 (ill.); 108; 183; 189.234

Norio Shimada, Claude Monet, Great Masters of Western Art 1 (Shogakukan, 2006), p. 33 (ill.).235

Joseph Baillio and Cora Michael, “Highlights of the Exhibition,” in Wildenstein and Co., Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff, exh. cat. (Wildenstein, 2007), pp. 185, 214.236

John House, “Representing the Beach: The View from Paris,” in John House and David M. Hopkin, Impressionists by the Sea, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts/Thames & Hudson/Abrams, 2007), p. 23.237

John House and David M. Hopkin, Impressionists by the Sea, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Thames & Hudson/Abrams, 2007), pp. 2–4 (detail); 75; 76, cat. 32 (ill.); 125; 128; 130, cat. 32 (ill.); 131; 132.238

Gary Tinterow, “Regatta at Sainte-Adresse,” in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/Yale University Press, 2007), p. 136.239

Paul Hayes Tucker, “Some Notes on Monet’s Practice,” in Wildenstein and Co., Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff, exh. cat. (Wildenstein, 2007), pp. 73, fig. 8; 74.240

Eric M. Zafran, “Monet in America,” in Wildenstein and Co., Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff, exh. cat. (Wildenstein, 2007), p. 127.241

Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide (Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), p. 213 (ill.).242

Art Institute of Chicago, Master Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James Cuno (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2009), p. 50 (ill.).243

Susie Hodge, Monet: His Life and Works in 500 Images (Lorenz, 2009), p. 109.244

Joseph Baillio, “Monet à Sainte-Adresse en 1867,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Musée d’Orsay, 2010), pp. 49, 54.245

Pascal Bonafoux, Monet, peintre de l’eau (Chêne/Hachette, 2010), pp. 38 (ill.), 172.246

Mary Mathews Gedo, Monet and His Muse: Camille Monet in the Artist’s Life (University of Chicago Press, 2010), pp. 70, fig. 4.4; 82.247

Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of French Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago, rev. and expanded ed. (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2010; repr. 2012), p. 52, cat. 16 (ill.).248

John House, “Social Reality versus the Thrall of Convention: The French Nineteenth Century Landscape,” in From Corot to Monet: The Ecology of Impressionism, ed. Stephen F. Eisenman, exh. cat. (Skira/Rizzoli, 2010), p. 37.249

John House, “Le sujet chez Monet,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Musée d’Orsay, 2010), pp. 21, 27.250

Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Musée d’Orsay, 2010), pp. 110, cat. 16 (ill.).251

Michael F. Zimmerman, “Radical Alienation—Radical Involvement: A Brief History of Subjectivity and Landscape up to Impressionism,” in From Corot to Monet: The Ecology of Impressionism, ed. Stephen F. Eisenman, exh. cat. (Skira/Rizzoli, 2010), pp. 114; 115, fig. 7.252

Simon Kelly, “Regatta at Sainte-Adresse,” in Simon Kelly and April M. Watson with Maura Coughlin and Neil McWilliam, Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet, exh. cat. (Saint Louis Art Museum/Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2013), pp. 276; 277, fig. 78.253

April M. Watson, “Brig upon the Water,” in Simon Kelly and April M. Watson with Maura Coughlin and Neil McWilliam, Impressionist France: Visions of Nation from Le Gray to Monet, exh. cat. (Saint Louis Art Museum/Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2013), p. 270.
254

Documentation from the Durand-Ruel Archives

Durand-Ruel, Paris, no. 2585 (à deux reprises: en 1873 et en 1893) et 11701255

Stock Durand-Ruel Paris 2585, “Marine, temps gris,” Livre de stock Paris 1868–73256

Stock Durand-Ruel Paris 11701, “Sainte-Adresse, 1867,&rdquo Livre de stock Paris 1921. (Ce tableau a été acheté à deux reprises par Durand-Ruel.)^[76]257

Photo Durand-Ruel Paris 9125, “Sainte-Adresse (1867),” 12 juin 1920^[77]258

Dépôt (et non stock) Durand-Ruel New York livre de 1904, dépôt no. 8044259

“Sainte-Adresse, 1867,” Livre de dépôt New York 1894–1925, dépôt no8044. (Est mentionnée la vente à A. S. Coburn le 8 février 1923.)^[78]
260

Labels and Inscriptions

Undated

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with typewritten script
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / artist Claude Monet / title Beach at Sainte Adresse. 1867 / medium oil on canvas / credit M/M L.L. Coburn Memorial Collection / acct. # 1933.439 (fig. 13.56)
261

White rectangular museum label with black text on a light gray background. From top to bottom, it reads “THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO,” then a left column of terms with entries to the right: artist — Claude Monet; title — Beach at Sainte Adresse. 1867; medium — oil on canvas; credit — M/M L.L. Coburn Memorial Collection; acct. # — 1933.439. Text is aligned in short lines with generous white space around it. — Fig. 13.56

Label
Location: stretcher
Method: printed label with typewritten script and green-ink stamp
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / Chicago, Illinois 60603 / ARTIST Monet, Claude / TITLE The Beach at Sainte-Adresse / MEDIUM oil on canvas / DATE 1867 SIZE / COLLECTION Mr. and Mrs. Lewis L. Coburn / [. . .] Collection 33.439
Ink stamp: Inventory—1980–1981 (fig. 13.57)
262

At the top, a beige museum label reads “ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO,” with “Chicago, Illinois 60603” centered below and a blue stamp to the right that reads “Inventory 1980–1981.” Below in top-to-bottom order, the fields state “ARTIST: Monet, Claude,” “TITLE: The Beach at Sainte-Adresse,” “MEDIUM: oil on canvas,” “DATE: 1867,” and “SIZE” left blank. At the bottom, it reads “COLLECTION: Mr. and Mrs. Lewis L. Coburn,” with the number “33.439” at the lower right. The paper shows gray smudges, a torn upper-left corner, and a round hole on the left edge; colors are black text on beige paper with a blue stamp. — Fig. 13.57

Number
Location: stretcher
Method: handwritten script
Content: 1933.439 (fig. 13.58)
263

At the top is a narrow horizontal band of beige with a coarse woven texture. Below it, a medium-to-dark brown surface with subtle horizontal lines fills the frame. Centered across this brown area, dark numerals and a dot read “1933.439” written left to right. — Fig. 13.58

Number
Location: stretcher
Method: handwritten script
Content: 1933.439 (fig. 13.59)
264

Horizontal brown wood with fine grain lines fills the view. Near the lower center, a lighter worn strip shows black handwritten numbers reading “1933.439.” To the right of the digits is a small round hole and minor scuffs; no other elements are present. — Fig. 13.59

Inscription
Location: stretcher
Method: handwritten script
Content: MONET BEACH AT SAINTE AdRESS 1933.439 (fig. 13.60)
265

At the top, a beige textured surface runs horizontally. Below it, a brown horizontal strip spans left to right, with fine dark lines and a small circular hole near the center. Along the upper edge of the brown strip, faint dark handwriting is visible but largely unreadable. — Fig. 13.60

Inscription
Location: lining canvas
Method: handwritten script
Content: MONET (fig. 13.61)
266

Top to bottom: a thin dark band sits above a wide strip of beige, textured fabric. Across the center of the fabric, the word “MONET” appears in large, slightly slanted gray handwriting. Along the bottom edge, a narrow horizontal strip of brown wood is visible. — Fig. 13.61

Pre-1980

Label
Location: previous Masonite-type backing board; discarded, transcription in conservation file
Method: unknown
Content: Sterling and Francine Clark Inst., “Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists,” Dec. 17, 1976–Feb. 13, 1977 (Temporary regis. no. 474/76) (fig. 13.62)
267

Black typed text on a white background appears in two lines, left-aligned. Line 1 reads: Exh. sticker: Sterling and Francine Clark Inst., "Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists", Dec. 17, 1976 - Feb. 13, 1977. Line 2 reads: (Temporary regis. no. 474/76). No people or additional objects are present. — Fig. 13.62

Label
Location: stretcher
Method: printed label
Content: I. C. A. SPRING STRETCHERS / OBERLIN, OHIO 44074 (fig. 13.63)
268

Across the center of a horizontal brown board, a dark gray rectangular plate is attached, with a small hole near its top center. The plate has two lines of black text: “I. C. A. SPRING STRETCHERS” and below it “OBERLIN, OHIO 44074.” A narrow tan textured strip runs along the bottom edge beneath the plate. — Fig. 13.63

Post-1980

Stamp
Location: stretcher
Method: green-ink stamp
Content: Inventory—1980–1981 (fig. 13.64)
269

Dark brown surface with horizontal wood-grain pattern fills the frame. Near the upper center-left is a small round hole, and along the lower edge is a worn lighter brown strip with faint black stamped text that is not legible. On the far right edge, a narrow vertical strip of light tan paper or board overlaps the brown surface. — Fig. 13.64

Label
Location: previous Masonite-type backing board; discarded, transcription in conservation file
Method: unknown
Content: Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, “Homage à Monet,” Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 8 Fevrier à 5 Mai 1980 (fig. 13.65)
270

Black text on a white background, arranged in two left-aligned lines. Top line reads: Exh. sticker: Reunion des musées nationaux, Paris, "Homage à Monet,". Second line reads: Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 8 Fevrier à 5 Mai 1980. No other graphics or elements appear. — Fig. 13.65

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with handwritten script
Content: Réunion des musées nationaux Paris / La plage de Sainte-Adresse / Titre de l’oeuvre: / Propriétaire: Art Institute of Chicago / No du Catalogue: 136 (fig. 13.66)^[79]
271

Rectangular off‑white label with black printed and handwritten French text. Top left shows a small black circle with a white “m,” followed by “Réunion des musées nationaux Paris”; centered below is the handwritten line “La plage de Sainte‑Adresse.” Lower section lists printed prompts “Titre de l’œuvre:”, “Propriétaire:”, and “No du Catalogue,” with handwritten entries “Art Institute of Chicago” next to “Propriétaire:” and “136” next to “No du Catalogue.” Text appears in black or dark blue ink, arranged from top to bottom. — Fig. 13.66

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: 136 / Claude Monet / La Plage de Saint-Adresse (The Beach at Sainte-Adresse) / Oil on canvas / The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis L. Coburn / Memorial Collection / ORIGINS OF IMPRESSIONISM / The Metropolitan Museum of Art / September 27, 1994–January 8, 1995 (fig. 13.67)
272

Rectangular label with black text on a light gray card. From top to bottom it reads: “136,” “Claude Monet,” “La Plage de Saint-Adresse (The Beach at Sainte-Adresse),” “Oil on canvas,” and “The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis L. Coburn Memorial Collection.” Centered below in larger bold letters: “ORIGINS OF IMPRESSIONISM.” At the bottom: “The Metropolitan Museum of Art” and the dates “September 27, 1994–January 8, 1995.” — Fig. 13.67

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: The Art Institute of Chicago / “Claude Monet: 1840–1926” / July 14, 1995–November 26, 1995 / Catalog: 12 / The Beach at Sainte-Adresse / La Plage de Sainte-Adresse / The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis / Larned Coburn Memorial Collection (1933.439) (fig. 13.68)
273

Off-white rectangular card with rounded corners and black printed text. Top center reads “The Art Institute of Chicago,” then “Claude Monet: 1840-1926” and the dates “July 14, 1995 - November 26, 1995.” Midsection shows “Catalog: 12,” an underlined English title “The Beach at Sainte-Adresse,” and an underlined italic French title “La Plage de Sainte-Adresse.” Bottom lines state “The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection (1933.439).” — Fig. 13.68

Label
Location: frame
Method: printed label
Content: Arnold Wiggins & Sons / Limited / 4 Bury Street / St. James’s / London SW1 / Picture Frame Makers / Carvers and Gilders
Left: BY APPOINTMENT / TO H. M. QUEEN ELIZABETH II / PICTURE FRAME MAKERS
Right: BY APPOINTMENT / TO H. M. QUEEN ELIZABETH / THE QUEEN MOTHER / PICTURE FRAME MAKERS (fig. 13.69)^[80]
274

On an off-white background, black cursive text at the top reads “Arnold Wiggins & Sons Limited.” Centered below, smaller cursive lines give the address: “4 Bury Street, St James’s, London SW1.” Midway left and right are two black crests with crowns; small block text beneath them reads, left: “By appointment to H.M. Queen Elizabeth II Picture Frame Makers,” and right: “By appointment to H.M. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Picture Frame Makers.” Large cursive text across the bottom reads “Picture Frame Makers Carvers and Gilders.” — Fig. 13.69

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with handwritten script
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / Manet and the Sea / The Art Institute of Chicago: 10/20/03–1/4/04 / Philadelphia Museum of Art: 2/15–5/30/04 / Van Gogh Museum: 6/18–9/26/04 / AIC / PMA / VGM / Cat. #: 97 / Claude Monet, French; 1840–1926 / THE BEACH AT SAINT-ADRESSE, 1867 / oil on canvas / 75 x 102 x cm., (29 1/2 x 40 3/4 in.) / The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA/CRATE No 81 (fig. 13.70)
275

At the top, a white rectangular label with black text lists “The Art Institute of Chicago,” the exhibition “Manet and the Sea,” and three museums with dates; on the right side is “AIC/PMA/VGM.” Below, black text provides “Cat. #: 97,” “Claude Monet, French; 1840–1926,” the title “THE BEACH AT SAINT-ADRESSE, 1867,” “oil on canvas,” dimensions “75 x 102 cm (29 1/2 x 40 3/4 in.),” and “The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.” At the bottom right, dark blue handwriting reads “CRATE No 81.” — Fig. 13.70

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART / 11150 East Boulevard / Cleveland, Ohio 44106-1797 / Monet in Normandy / (6/17/2006–5/28/2007) / Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926) / The Beach at Sainte-Adresse, 1867 / Oil on canvas / 1867 / The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned / Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.439 / CAT#: 05 / 1933.439 (fig. 13.71)
276

Fig. 13.71

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: Royal Academy of Arts, London / Impressionists by the Sea / 3 July 2007 to 30 September 2007 / Claude Monet Key No. 37 Cat. No. 32 / The Beach at Sainte-Adresse / The Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn / Memorial Collection, 1933.439 (fig. 13.72)
277

Rectangular white paper label on a light beige surface, printed with black text. From top to bottom, the text reads: “Royal Academy of Arts, London”; “Impressionists by the Sea”; “3 July 2007 to 30 September 2007”; “Claude Monet Key No. 37 Cat No. 32”; “The Beach at Sainte-Adresse”; “The Art Institute of Chicago. Mr and Mrs Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.439.” — Fig. 13.72

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: rmn / Claude Monet 1840–1926 / Galeries nationales, Grand Palais / 22/09/2010–24/01/2011 / 10 / Chicago / The Art Institute of Chicago / La Plage de Sainte-Adresse / The Beach at Sainte-Adresse / inv. 1933.439 / huile sur toile (fig. 13.73)
278

Fig. 13.73

Examination and Analysis Techniques

X-radiography

Westinghouse X-ray unit, scanned on Epson Expressions 10000XL flatbed scanner.279

Infrared Reflectography

Surface Optics modified near-infrared hyperspectral camera (collects 4 nm spectral band images from 960 to 1730 nm); Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite1000B/2 mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm); Inframetrics Infracam (1.5–1.73 µm filter).280

Transmitted Infrared

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite1000B/2 mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm).281

Visible Light

Natural-light, raking-light, and transmitted-light overalls and macrophotography: Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter.282

Ultraviolet Light

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter and Kodak Wratten 2E filter.283

High-Resolution Visible Light (and Ultraviolet)

Sinar P3 camera with Sinarback eVolution 75 H (B+W 486 UV/IR cut MRC filter).284

Microscopy and Photomicrographs

Sample and cross-sectional analysis using a Zeiss Axioplan2 research microscope equipped with reflected light/UV fluorescence and a Zeiss AxioCam MRc5 digital camera. Types of illumination used: darkfield, differential interference contrast (DIC), and UV. In situ photomicrographs with a Wild Heerbrugg M7A StereoZoom microscope fitted with an Olympus DP71 microscope digital camera.285

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)

Several spots on the painting were analyzed in situ with a Bruker/Keymaster TRACeR III-V with rhodium tube.286

Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM)

Zeiss Universal research microscope.287

Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDX)

Cross sections were analyzed after carbon coating with a Hitachi S-3400N-II VP-SEM with an Oxford EDS and a Hitachi solid-state BSE detector. Analysis was performed at the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental (NUANCE) Center, Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC) facility.288

Automated Thread Counting

Thread count and weave information were determined by Thread Count Automation Project software.^[81]289

Image Registration

Overlay images registered using a novel image-based algorithm developed by Damon M. Conover (GW), Dr. John K. Delaney (GW, NGA), and Murray H. Loew (GW) of the George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.^[82]290

Image Inventory

The image inventory compiles records of all known images of the artwork on file in the Conservation Department, the Imaging Department, and the Department of Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 13.74).
291

Fig. 13.74
Image Inventory:
Loc/Neg #	Format	Purpose	Date	Lighting, Notes
C11263	B/W		1935
Cons	B/W print	Before treatment	May 4, 1973	IR, overall
Cons	B/W print + neg	Before treatment	May 4, 1973	UV, overall
Cons	B/W print + neg	Before treatment	May 4, 1973	Normal, overall
Cons	Color slide	Before treatment	May 1973	Normal, overall
C38872	B/W	After treatment	c. 1973	Normal
E10572	Color		1986	Normal
E10573	Color		1986	Normal, detail, center
G32178	Digital	OSCI	2009	Normal, overall
G32179	Digital	OSCI	2009	Normal, frame only
G32180	Digital	OSCI	2009	Normal, framed (composite of G32178 and G32179)
G37157	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, overall
G37158	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, frame only
G32159	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, framed (composite of G37157 and G37158)
G37160	Digital	OSCI	2011	UV, overall
G37161	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, signature
G37162	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, upper-left corner
G37163	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, upper-right corner
G37164	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, lower-left corner
G37165	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, lower-right corner
G37166	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, townscape
G37167	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, water at right
G37168	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, center boats on beach
G37169	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, baskets
G37170	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, fishermen
G37171	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, far beach
G37172	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, seated couple
G37173	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, fishing boats
G37174	Digital	OSCI	2011	Normal, detail, lower-left corner

Notes

The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (W92) corresponds to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 49, cat. 92 (ill.). The Art Institute currently uses the title that was given to the painting when it was exhibited at the second Impressionist exhibition. The painting had the following titles during the lifetime of the artist:
Feb. 28, 1873: Marine, temps gris (Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1868–73 [no. 2585]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Possibly spring 1874: Ste Adresse near Havre (Durand-Ruel, London, Eighth Exhibition of the Society of French Artists, exh. cat. [Durand-Ruel, 1874], p. 11, cat. 142; according to Henri Loyrette and Gary Tinterow, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, exh. cat. [Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994], p. 430, cat. 136, translated as Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette, Origins of Impressionism, exh. cat. [Metropolitan Museum of Art/Abrams, 1994], p. 433, cat. 136).
Apr. 1876: La Plage à Sainte-Adresse. (Catalogue de la 2e exposition de peinture [second Impressionist exhibition], exh. cat. [Alcan-Lévy, 1876], cat. 151).
June 21, 1889: Sainte-Adresse. 1867. (Galerie Georges Petit, Claude Monet; A. Rodin, exh. cat. [Imp. de l’Art, E. Ménard, 1889], p. 27, cat. 5; reprinted in Theodore Reff, ed., Miscellaneous Group Exhibitions, Modern Art in Paris 34 [Garland, 1981], n.pag.).
Jan. 9, 1893: Sainte-Adresse (Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1891 [no. 2585]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Feb. 1–2, 1897: Sainte-Adresse. (Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Collection H. V.: Catalogue de tableaux modernes de premier ordre: Pastels, aquarelles, dessins, sale cat. [Galerie Georges Petit, Feb. 1–2, 1897], p. 109, lot 79).
June 11, 1920: Sainte-Adresse, 1867 (Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1921 [no. 11701]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Feb. 8, 1923: Sainte-Adresse, 1867 (Durand-Ruel, New York, deposit book for 1894–1925 [no. 8044]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
The following texts were extremely beneficial in understanding the changing landscape of Normandy and the way in which Monet and other Impressionists treated its sites and subjects: Robert L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867–1886 (Yale University Press, 1994); Richard Brettell’s essays in Heather Lemonedes, Lynn Federle Orr, and David Steel, Monet in Normandy, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/North Carolina Museum of Art/Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006); and John House and David M. Hopkin, Impressionists by the Sea, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007). For a detailed chronology of Monet’s life, see Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995).
Richard R. Brettell, “Monet’s Normandy before Monet,” in Heather Lemonedes, Lynn Federle Orr, and David Steel, Monet in Normandy, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/North Carolina Museum of Art/Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006), p. 15.
Eugène Chapus, De Paris à Rouen et au Havre (L. Hachette, 1862), p. 244; quoted in John House and David M. Hopkin, Impressionists by the Sea, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007), p. 125.
Eugène d’Auriac, Guide pratique, historique et descriptif aux bains de mer de la manche et de l’océan (Garnier Frères, 1866), p. 200; quoted in John House and David M. Hopkin, Impressionists by the Sea, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007), p. 125.
John House and David M. Hopkin, Impressionists by the Sea, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007), pp. 15–16. Alphonse Karr’s 1836 novel Le chemin le plus court, which tells the story of a young painter from Le Havre, references numerous local sites. Karr also published Les soirées de Sainte-Adresse in 1853.
Michel Schulman, Frédéric Bazille, 1841–1870: Catalogue raisonné, peintures, dessins, pastels, aquarelles (Éd. de l’Amateur/Éd. des Catalogues Raisonnés, 1995), cat. 18 (1865).
Alfred Robaut, L’oeuvre de Corot: Catalogue raisonné et illustré, précédé de l’histoire de Corot et de ses oeuvres, vol. 2 (1905; repr., Laget, 1965), nos. 230, 235, and 238–39. All of these works are dated to the period 1830–40.
Adolphe Stein et al., Jongkind: Catalogue critique de l’oeuvre (Brame & Lorenceau, 2003), nos. 50 (1847), 116 (1853), 216 (1858), 271 (1862), 272 (1862), 273 (1862), 274 (1862), 309 (1863), and 430 (1866).
As early as 1850, photographic studios began to be established in towns along the coast of Normandy. Among the numerous photographers documenting the region was Gustave Le Gray, who made a series of photographs there during the summers of 1856 and 1858. Many of Le Gray’s views documented the transformation of the coastline. He was pioneering in his technical skill and creation of atmospheric photographs that presented little or no narrative context. Le Gray’s sea views were acclaimed in London and Paris, and it has been argued that Monet certainly would have known about these photographs, which may have played a role in his (and other Impressionists’) treatment of subjects and their interest in capturing the momentary. See Carole McNamara, “Painting and Photography in Normandy: The Aesthetic of the Instant,” in The Lens of Impressionism: Photography and Painting along the Normandy Coast, 1850–1874, exh. cat. (University of Michigan Museum of Art/Hudson Hills, 2009), pp. 15–33. Indeed, there is a certain affinity between Le Gray’s photograph The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (fig. 13.2) and Monet’s painting.
Monet to Bazille, June 25, [1867]; quoted in Richard Kendall, ed., Monet by Himself: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels, Letters, trans. Bridget Strevens Romer (Macdonald Orbis, 1989), p. 24; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 1, Peintures, 1840–1881 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1974), pp. 423–24, letter 33.
The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
See Richard R. Brettell and Stephen Eisenman, Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum (Norton Simon Art Foundation/Yale University Press, 2006), pp. 316–20, cat. 84. According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 24, cat. 40, Horses at the Pointe de La Hève (1864; private collection [W40]) is the study for the Kimbell painting; and cat. 38, The Lighthouse by the Hospice (1864; Kunsthaus Zürich [W38]), is the study for the Norton Simon painting. The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
Richard R. Brettell, “Monet and Normandy,” in Heather Lemonedes, Lynn Federle Orr, and David Steel, Monet in Normandy, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/North Carolina Museum of Art/Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006), pp. 42–43.
Monet to Bazille, July 3, [1867]; quoted in Gary Tinterow, “Regatta at Sainte-Adresse,” in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/Yale University Press, 2007), p. 136; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 1, Peintures, 1840–1881 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1974), p. 424, letter 34.
Robert L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867–1886 (Yale University Press, 1994), p. 9.
Robert L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867–1886 (Yale University Press, 1994), p. 11.
The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
These details have been noted in a number of texts, including Robert L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867–1886 (Yale University Press, 1994); Heather Lemonedes, Lynn Federle Orr, and David Steel, Monet in Normandy, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/North Carolina Museum of Art/Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006); Gary Tinterow, “Regatta at Sainte-Adresse,” in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/Yale University Press, 2007), p. 136; John House and David M. Hopkin, Impressionists by the Sea, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007), pp. 130–31; and Joseph Baillio, “Monet à Sainte-Adresse en 1867,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Abrams, 2010), p. 54.
The only reference to the local fisherfolk in Regatta is the small, dark-sailed boat in the center of the composition. Robert L. Herbert pointed out that yachts could be distinguished from fishing boats by the color of their sails: fishing boats typically had brown sails, and yachts, which were more expensive, had white sails. See Robert L. Herbert, Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society (Yale University Press, 1988), p. 292.
Monet to Bazille, June 25, [1867], quoted in Richard Kendall, ed., Monet by Himself: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels, Letters, trans. Bridget Strevens Romer (Macdonald Orbis, 1989), p. 24; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 1, Peintures, 1840–1881 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1974), pp. 423–24, letter 33.
For an overview of the materials and methods of Claude Monet’s paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, see Kimberley Muir, Inge Fiedler, Don H. Johnson, and Robert G. Erdmann, “An In-depth Study of the Materials and Technique of Paintings by Claude Monet from the Art Institute of Chicago,” ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Meeting Preprints, Melbourne, Sept. 15–19, 2014 (forthcoming).
Using the toolbar at the bottom right, any two images of the painting may be selected for comparison by clicking the layers icon to the right of the slider bar. The slider bar may be moved to transition back and forth between the two chosen images. The jagged line icon brings up a list of available annotations, or colored lines that show the significant features visible in each image, which may be turned on or off in any combination. For example, the red annotation lines, associated with the natural-light image, trace some of the painting’s key compositional features. When overlaid onto a technical image (X-ray, raking light, UV, etc.), the red outlines help the viewer to better observe how features in the technical image relate to or diverge from the painting as seen with the naked eye. (When annotations are turned on, a legend appears in the upper right showing each color and its associated image type.) The circular arrow icon returns the image to the default settings (natural light, full-image view, natural-light [red] annotation on). The four-arrow icon toggles between the view of the image in the page and a full-screen view of the image. In the upper right corner, the vertical slider bar may be moved to zoom into or out of the image; different parts of the image can be accessed by clicking and dragging within the image itself. The icon in the upper left corner opens a small view of the full image, within which a red box indicates the portion of the overall image being viewed when zooming is enabled.
XRF analysis, in conjunction with microscopic examination of the painting surface, indicates that the paint mixture for the signature (t) contains iron oxide pigments, viridian, and possibly bone black. Other pigments may also be present. See Kimberley Muir, “Mon_SAdresse_33_439_XRF_Results,” Aug. 28, 2009, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
XRF analysis, in conjunction with microscopic examination of the painting surface, indicates that the paint mixture for the date (7) contains cobalt blue, vermilion, iron oxide pigments, and viridian. Other pigments may also be present. See Kimberley Muir, “Mon_SAdresse_33_439_XRF_Results,” Aug. 28, 2009, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
It is interesting to note the difference in signature styles between this painting and the contemporary Regatta at Sainte-Adresse (1867; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York [W91]). The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
Flax was confirmed by microscopic cross-sectional fiber identification. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_439_Monet_analytical_report,” Sept. 23, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Original dimensions were determined by approximating foldover edges based on creases and old tack holes. Small discrepancies between the current measurements and standard sizes may be a result of this approximation, in addition to restretching, lining, slacking, and keying out of the canvas over time.
Thread count and weave information were determined by Thread Count Automation Project software; see Don H. Johnson and Robert G. Erdmann, “Thread Count Report: Claude Monet, The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (W92/1933.439),” July 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
The presence of a sizing layer is difficult to determine from cross sections due to previous conservation treatments, including an aqueous lining and a wax-resin lining.
The ground composition was analyzed using SEM/EDX, PLM, and XRF. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_439_Monet_analytical_report,” Sept. 23, 2011; and Kimberley Muir, “Mon_SAdresse_33_439_XRF_Results,” Aug. 28, 2009, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Research on the collection of Impressionist paintings at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and Fondation Corboud in Cologne has detected similar traces of charcoal underdrawing in works by Monet and some of his contemporaries. It is noted that the “lines were easy to blow or brush away during the painting process. For this reason, the extent of the sketch (which can often only be demonstrated under a microscope) is in many cases practically imperceptible.” Iris Schaefer, Caroline von Saint-George, and Katja Lewerentz, Painting Light: The Hidden Techniques of the Impressionists (Skira, 2008), p. 102.
Charcoal was identified by PLM. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_439_Monet_analytical_report,” Sept. 23, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
In the transmitted-infrared image, the light, which is positioned behind the painting, is blocked at the edges by the stretcher bars, making the couple at the far right difficult to discern.
The pigments were identified by the following methods: lead white, bone black, cobalt blue (XRF, PLM, SEM/EDX); iron oxide (red, yellow, and reddish-brown), chrome yellow, viridian, emerald green, vermilion (XRF, PLM); and red lake (PLM). Analysis was carried out on selected areas and may not include all pigments present in the painting. For more detailed results and conditions used, see Kimberley Muir, “Mon_SAdresse_33_439_XRF_Results,” Aug. 28, 2009; and Inge Fiedler, “1933_439_Monet_analytical_report,” Sept. 23, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago. A significant zinc peak was detected by XRF in one area of the painting: the yellow band of the fishing boat at left. No zinc white was identified by PLM analysis of the same area. The zinc could be due to an additive, such as zinc stearate, included by the paint manufacturer. See Kimberley Muir, “Mon_SAdresse_33_439_XRF_Results,” Aug. 28, 2009, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
The binding medium was not analyzed. The estimation of an oil medium is based on visual examination, as well as on knowledge of Monet’s technique and published analyses of Monet paintings in other collections. See, for example, David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), pp. 72–75.
See Louis Pomerantz, examination report, June 28, 1957, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See unsigned note, July 1, 1957, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Alfred Jakstas, treatment report, Aug. 22, 1973, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Kirk Vuillemot, “Monet Frame Descriptions Final,” Dec. 3, 2013, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Kirk Vuillemot, “Monet Frame Descriptions Final,” Dec. 3, 2013, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
The photograph showing The Beach at Sainte-Adresse in the interior of Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn’s Blackstone Hotel apartment in Chicago dates to before April 6, 1932, when the painting was exhibited in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, April 6–October 9, 1932. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago. Mrs. Coburn died in May 1932 during the course of the exhibition, and the paintings remained at the Art Institute after it ended.
The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1868–73 (no. 2585, as Marine, temps gris): “Acheté par Durand-Ruel Paris (stock 2585) à l’artiste le 28 février 1873 pour 400 francs, Marine, temps gris,” 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, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 49, cat. 92. Wildenstein explains that Durand-Ruel probably sold the painting to Faure around 1876. Agnès Lacau St. Guily (Wildenstein Institute, Paris), in an e-mail message to Gloria Groom, July 27, 2011, noted: “For W 92, a written note in the file indicates that the provenance DR / Faure / DR / Vever / Sale Vever / Boulley for Georges Kohn (without confusion with French writer Gustave Kahn) comes from the Durand-Ruel archives.” La Plage à Sainte-Adresse is listed as “appartient à M. Faure” in Catalogue de la 2e exposition de peinture [second Impressionist exhibition], exh. cat. (Alcan-Lévy, 1876), cat. 151. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, however, there is no documentation confirming that Faure purchased the painting from Durand-Ruel; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1891 (no. 2585, as Sainte-Adresse): “Acheté par Durand-Ruel Paris (stock 2585) à Faure le 9 janvier 1893 pour 7000 francs, Sainte-Adresse,” 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, Art Institute of Chicago. This provenance is also noted in Anthea Callen, “Jean-Baptiste Faure, 1830–1914: A Study of a Patron and Collector of the Impressionists and Their Contemporaries with a Catalogue of His Collection” (M.A. thesis, University of Leicester, 1971), p. 325, n. 3.
The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1891 (no. 2585, as Sainte-Adresse): “Vendu par Durand-Ruel Paris (stock 2585) à Véver, Paris, le 17 janvier 1893 pour 8000 francs, Sainte-Adresse,” 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, Art Institute of Chicago. Anthea Callen suggested that Durand-Ruel might have sold the painting for 12,000 francs; Callen found no recorded selling price in the Durand-Ruel stock book (no. L.2585), but the asking price at the time was listed as 12,000 francs. See Anthea Callen, “Jean-Baptiste Faure, 1830–1914: A Study of a Patron and Collector of the Impressionists and Their Contemporaries with a Catalogue of His Collection” (M.A. thesis, University of Leicester, 1971), p. 325, n. 3.
See Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Collection H. V.: Catalogue de tableaux modernes de premier ordre, pastels, aquarelles, dessins, sale cat. (Galerie Georges Petit, Feb. 1–2, 1897), p. 109, lot 79. A sale catalogue annotated with prices and names is in the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague. According to Henri Loyrette and Gary Tinterow, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994), p. 430, cat. 136 (translated as Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette, Origins of Impressionism, exh. cat. [Metropolitan Museum of Art/Abrams, 1994], pp. 432–33, cat. 136), it was purchased by Boulley for Gustave Kahn. According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 49, cat. 92, it was purchased by Boulley for Georges Kohn. Agnès Lacau St. Guily (Wildenstein Institute, Paris), in an e-mail message to Gloria Groom, July 27, 2011, stated that the painting was purchased by “Boulley for Georges Kohn (without confusion with French writer Gustave Kahn).” The Durand-Ruel Archives also confirms that the painting was “acheté à G. Kohn (et non pas Kahn)”; see Paul-Louis Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1921 (no. 11701, as Sainte-Adresse): “Acheté en compte à demi (stock 11701) par Durand-Ruel Paris et Bernheim-Jeune à Georges Kohn, Paris, le 11 juin 1920 pour 40,000 francs (prix pour la totalité du tableau), Sainte-Adresse,” 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, Art Institute of Chicago. This letter also clarifies that “Durand-Ruel et Bernheim-Jeune achètent ensemble à Kohn le 11 juin 1920 mais nous ne savons pas quand Durand-Ruel rachète la moitié de Bernheim-Jeune, ni à combien.”
The price that Coburn paid for the painting is unknown. The transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, New York, deposit book for 1894–1925 (no. 8044, as Sainte-Adresse): “Vendu par Durand-Ruel New York à A. S. Coburn le 8 février 1923, Sainte-Adresse,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, dated Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. See also a letter on Durand-Ruel letterhead, Mar. 18, 1932, verifying that Coburn purchased the painting from Durand-Ruel.
According to Gary Tinterow’s entry for this painting in Henri Loyrette and Gary Tinterow, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994), p. 430, cat. 136, translated as Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette, Origins of Impressionism, exh. cat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art/Abrams, 1994), p. 433, cat. 136. Charles Stuckey notes that the exhibition occurred in April; Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 199. The gallery that Durand-Ruel rented at 168 New Bond Street, London, was known as the German Gallery; see Kenneth McConkey, “Impressionism in Britain,” in Kenneth McConkey and Anna Gruetzner Robins, Impressionism in Britain, exh. cat. (Barbican Art Gallery, 1995), p. 209, n. 19.
This exhibition catalogue was reprinted in Theodore Reff, ed., Miscellaneous Group Exhibitions, Modern Art in Paris 34 (Garland, 1981), n.pag. The dates of this exhibition are unclear. The Musée Rodin reports that the exhibition was held from June 21 to August 1889; see Musée Rodin, Claude Monet; Auguste Rodin: Centenaire de l’exposition de 1889, exh. cat. (Musée Rodin, 1989), p. 19. Roger Terry Dunn found evidence that the exhibition lasted for three months; see Dunn, “The Monet-Rodin Exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1889” (Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1978), pp. 74–76. The dates used in the present catalogue reflect Dunn’s research and those also used in Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 218.
The exhibition catalogue lists the dates as June 1–November 1, 1933, but newspaper articles confirm the exhibition opened on May 23. See India Moffett, “Art Show of 1,500 World Famous Treasures Is Opened at Institute,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 23, 1933, p. 17; and Virginia Gardner, “Record Throng of 1,367,000 Views Art Show,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 29, 1933, p. 7.
There was no catalogue produced for the exhibition, but a typewritten checklist in the Saint Louis Art Museum Archives includes The Beach at Sainte-Adresse. Exhibition dates were published in the Bulletin of the City Art Museum of St. Louis 19, 2 (Apr. 1934), p. 27. Thanks to Clare Vasquez, public services librarian, Richardson Library, Saint Louis Art Museum, for sending this documentation, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The exhibition catalogue lists the dates as June 1–November 1, 1934, but newspaper articles confirm that the exhibition closed on October 31. See “Fair Art Exhibition Closes Forever at 5:30 This Afternoon,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 31, 1934, p. 2; and “Shippers Start Dismantling Art Exhibition Today,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 1, 1934, p. 3.
Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, Catalogue: French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, exh. cat. (Toledo Museum of Art, 1934), lists the exhibition dates as November 1934. Shipping out order 19801, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago, indicates the exhibition lasted from November 4 to 25, 1934.
Thanks to Nicole R. Myers, associate curator, European Painting and Sculpture, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, for locating the exhibition catalogue, a copy of which is in the curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. See also William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, “Exhibition of French Impressionist Landscape Paintings,” William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts News Flashes 3, 2 (Dec. 1, 1936), p. 2.
See Art Institute of Chicago, “List of Exhibitions,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 39, 4 (Apr.–May 1945), p. 64. See also the typewritten document, “Masterpiece of the Month: Notes and Bibliography, January 1942–December 1945,” pp. 111–13. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
The exhibition catalogue is printed in Art Institute of Chicago, “Catalogue,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), pp. 33–34. Under “Exhibitions” in the same issue, the original exhibition dates were listed as April 1–30 (p. 36); however, the show was extended until June 15. See Edith Weigle, “The Wonderful World of Art,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 26, 1957, p. E2, for an exhibition review and reference to the extension of the length of the show. The April 1957 issue of the Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly was largely dedicated to the Monet works in the Art Institute’s collection. The exhibition marked the first time the Art Institute’s thirty Monet paintings were shown together in the museum.
According to shipping out order A7603, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor is mentioned in California Palace of the Legion of Honor, “Exhibitions,” Bulletin of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor 19, 9–10 (Jan.–Feb. 1962), n.pag. A typescript of the list of paintings shown at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago) includes The Beach at Sainte-Adresse. Arthur Millier, “Summer Relief: ‘Painters by the Sea,’” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 27, 1961, p. N18, illustrates the painting.
According to documentation on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to Gary Tinterow’s entry for this painting in Henri Loyrette and Gary Tinterow, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994), p. 430, cat. 136; translated as Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette, Origins of Impressionism, exh. cat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art/Abrams, 1994), p. 433, cat. 136. The title of the painting is not mentioned in this article.
According to Gary Tinterow’s entry for this painting in Henri Loyrette and Gary Tinterow, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994), p. 430, cat. 136; translated as Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette, Origins of Impressionism, exh. cat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art/Abrams, 1994), p. 433, cat. 136.
The painting is not titled in the article, but it is described as “la plage de Ste-Adresse.”
Berson noted that this article is a reprint of Gustave Rivière, “Les intransigeants de la peinture,” L’esprit moderne (Apr. 13, 1876). The painting is not titled in the article, but it is described as “une marine avec un bateau bleu sur la plage.”
As mentioned in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 2, Nos. 1–968 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 49, cat. 92, Geffroy cited an 1876 article (author unknown) that mentions The Beach at Sainte-Adresse (p. 71).
Republished in Art Institute of Chicago, A Brief Illustrated Guide to the Collections (Art Institute of Chicago, 1941), p. 35; and Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1945), pp. 36 (ill.), 37.
Also included in the abridged translation into Russian in Oscar Reuterswärd, Klod Mone: Sokrashchennyi perevod so shvedskogo [Claude Monet: An abridged translation from Swedish] (Progress, 1965), p. 171, pl. 11.
Republished in Kenneth Clark, Landscape into Art (Harper & Row, 1976), pp. xiv; 168, pl. 100.
Included in typescript catalogue supplement, Nov. 15, 1966, p. 41; typescript catalogue supplement, Sept. 15, 1967, p. 41; typescript catalogue supplement, Dec. 18, 1968, p. 61; typescript catalogue supplement, Feb. 10, 1971, p. 77; typescript catalogue supplement, Apr. 15, 1971, p. [6]; and typescript catalogue supplement, Apr. 15, 1972, Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
The Beach at Sainte-Adresse is listed as plate 62, but images do not accompany the Art Institute’s copy of this dissertation.
Republished in John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago, rev. ed. (Abrams, 1977), pp. 80 (ill.), 81; and Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (Thames & Hudson, 1987), pp. 80 (ill.), 81.
The Beach at Sainte-Adresse is listed as figure 10, but images do not accompany the Art Institute’s copy of this thesis.
Denis Rouart, “Appearances and Reflections,” in Denis Rouart and Jean-Dominique Rey, Monet, Water Lilies: The Complete Series, trans. David Radzinowicz, with a cat. rais. by Julie Rouart (Flammarion/Rizzoli, 2008), pp. 36, 38. It was simultaneously revised and published in French as Denis Rouart and Jean-Dominique Rey, Monet, les nymphéas, with a cat. rais. by Julie Rouart (Flammarion, 2008).
Also published as John House, “Framing the Landscape,” in John House, with contributions from Ann Dumas, Jane Mayo Roos, and James F. McMillan, Impressions of France: Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, and Their Rivals, ed. Timothy Wilcox and Margot Heller, exh. cat. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1995), pp. 12; 15, fig. 1.
Originally published in Italian in 2003 by Rizzoli/Skira-Corriere della Sera.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
Located in the Durand-Ruel Archives; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The label dates to the exhibition Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, held at Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, Apr. 19–Aug. 8, 1994.
The label dates to 1999 according to invoice no. 9899 from Arnold Wiggins and Sons to the Art Institute, Aug. 19, 1999, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Don Johnson, C. Richard Johnson, Jr., Andrew G. Klein, William A. Sethares, H. Lee, and Ella Hendriks, “A Thread Counting Algorithm for Art Forensics,” 2009 IEEE Thirteenth Digital Signal Processing and Fifth IEEE Signal Processing Education Workshop (IEEE, 2009), pp. 679–84; doi:10.1109/DSP.2009.4786009.
See Damon M. Conover, John K. Delaney, Paola Ricciardi, and Murray H. Loew, “Towards Automatic Registration of Technical Images of Works of Art,” in Computer Vision and Image Analysis of Art II, ed. David G. Stork, James Coddington, and Anna Bentkowska-Kafel, Proc. SPIE 7869 (SPIE/IS&T, 2011), doi:10.1117/12.872634.

How to Cite

Entry by Gloria Groom and Jill Shaw; Technical Report by Kimberley Muir, “Cat. 13 The Beach at Sainte-Adresse, 1867,” in Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, ed. Gloria Groom and Jill Shaw, rev. ed. (2014; repr., Art Institute of Chicago, 2026), https://doi.org/10.53269/9780865592698/10.

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