Monet, Claude (1840-1926)
Trois bateaux de pêche (Three Fishing Boats)
1886
Oil on canvas, 73 x 92.5 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Throughout the life of Claude Monet, the movements of water, the ever-changing light and weather conditions of the sea remained a fundamental source of inspiration. Three Fishing Boats was painted in Étretat, a popular tourist destination in Normandy, probably in October or November of 1886. The harsh winter weather did not deter the painter from working in the open air, right in front of the motif. Among the works Monet devoted to this theme, this painting is one of the most radical. The seemingly random composition evokes the spontaneity of a photograph: the three boats are seen from above, the sky is not visible and the bow of the vessel on the left is cut off by the edge of the picture. With powerful and expressive brushstrokes, Monet depicted this scene in dim winter light, distinguishing between the materials of the different elements and following the forms with intense dynamism: the boats with their yellow, green and dark-blue colours are rendered with sweeping movements of the brush, following their curved structure, while the bright green and white waves striking the shore were formed with energetic upward slashes. The dynamic technique perfectly captures the motion of the wind and the water. Anna Zsófia Kovács (MFAB)