Monet, Claude (1840-1926)
La plage de Trouville (The Beach at Trouville)
1870
Oil on canvas, 54 x 64.8 cm
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford
Curatorial Narrative: Monet spent the summer of 1870 at Trouville, the popular French resort along the English Channel. This painting of fashionable hotel guests strolling on the boardwalk, along with the effect of the sunlight reflected on land and water, was controversial at the time. Monet was criticized both for his subject matter—considered too trite—and his hasty treatment of the scene. Monet arrived at Trouville with a limited amount of canvas. He painted this work over an earlier composition that can be seen, even with the naked eye, bleeding through the surface.
Collection Catalog Narrative: 1870 at Trouville, the popular French resort along the English Channel. They did not stay at one of the grand hotels shown here along the beach, but at a more modest lodging on a back street. In Trouville, Monet initially painted scenes of sailboats at sea, but he soon switched to the more enticing Hotel des Roches Noires and its beach strip. Since Monet had only a limited amount of canvas with him, for this work he painted over the earlier composition of sailboats, which can be seen bleeding through the central part of the surface. This painting of fashionable hotel guests strolling on the boardwalk, along with the effect of the sunlight reflected on land and water, was controversial at the time. Monet was criticized both for his subject matter—considered too trite—and his hasty treatment of the scene. (WA)
Compare:
Boudin, Eugène (1824-1898)
Scène de plage à Trouville
c.1860–1870
National Gallery, London
Monet, Claude (1840-1926)
La plage de Trouville
1870
National Gallery, London