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The Rocks at Pourville, Low Tide

The Rocks at Pourville, Low Tide (1882) , was conceived when Claude Monet had his tourism at Pourville, a town on the Normandy coast near Dieppe. He stayed there for seven weeks with a series of creations from early February 1882[1]. This work illstruates this image presents a seascape that captures the beauty of nature, showing the intersection of land and sea tranquility and dynamics. This artwork centers on the interaction between jagged coastal rocks and the sea, with the angular irregularity of the rocks in the foreground emphasizing the cragginess of the shoreline, contrasting with the dark colors and white foam of the broken waves.

The Rocks at Pourville, Low Tide (1882)
ArtistClaude Monet
YearFrench, 1840-1926
MediumOil on canvas
MovementImpressionism
Dimensions25 5/16 x 31 in. (64.3 x 78.7 cm)
OwnerMemory Art Gallery Permated Collection, Gift of Emily Sibley Watson, 39.22

This work was nowadays collected at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY, as gift of Emily Sibley Watson, and there are detailed information about description and exhibition lists related to this artworks as MAG artwork 4989.

Context

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In December 1871, the Monet family rented a villa in Argenteuil, and Monet began to concentrate on painting along the channel. According to Paul Hayes Tucker's research on Monet's Argenteuil era, the artist's fascination in marine motifs sprang from his childhood on the coast of Normandy, as seen by the abundance of paintings he created featuring rivers, seas, and boats.[2] In 1878, Monet moved to Vetheuil, where in September 1879 Monet's wife Camille died after a long illness and Monet lived with the family of Alice and Ernest Hoschede, and as Hoschede spent more time away from home, Alice and Claude lived together like married --- the relationship added to Moent's emotional world affect his works at that time, and even the late works [3].

Monet's Other Paintings of Pourville: Four series works[4]

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Fishing Nets at Pourville,
 
w.765
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions60 × 81cm
LocationGemeentemuseum, The Hague

Here are four "working" landscape canvases (w.767-w.770) focused on fisherfolk, and were done during Monet's second remaining time at Pourville, where he experienced the 1882 summer with Alice and their children. Canvas w.768 is called Fishing Nets at Pourville (1882). The Rocks at Pourville, Low Tide (1882) belongs to this "informal" series as w.767.

The art style of four canvases:

  • The landscape focuses nearby river, the foreground is seaweed-covered rocks, the horizon line is about two-thirds of the way up the canvas, the horizon was cut in half by the distant cliffs.
  • Four settings apparently show local fisherfolk catching shellfish in the exposed tidal pools, with the fishing fleet out to sea.

Monet's Impressionism

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Monet's Normand coastal works

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Monet focused his pictures of the northern shore on topographies that had a strong visual identity.[5]

  • Space

Monet's works during the 1880s and 1890s show a deepening engagement with the unification of elements like sky, sea, and land, creating a seamless sense of time and space [6]. The 1880s and 1890s showed a deepening engagement with the unification of elements like sky, sea, and land, creating a seamless sense of time and space​[7]. Despite coming to Pourville as a vacationer, Monet, accompanied by brother Leon and Alice's family, blends in like a native. [3] Vacationers sometimes pretend to be locals, and Monet, while living with other vacationers, erased the vacationers' society in his paintings, focusing instead on local life and natural scenery[8]. Tucker mentioned that Monet's Normandy shore paintings, especially the ones that highlight low tides, cliffs, and rocks, frequently convey a feeling of peace and alone, casting the viewer in the role of an isolated observer of the expanse of nature[2]. 

  • Brushstrokes

"Verbal definition of the characteristics of an artist's style is always difficult, but in Monet's paintings each stroke of the brush always seems to belong securely within the painting's pictorial space, and, in the treatment of trees and bushes, the foliage and branches always seem to unite into a single organic growing form."[9] John mentioned that when describing different elements of the landscape, Monet would use different brushstrokes to show the influence of different winds on the scene[10]. Like in The Rocks at Pourville, Low Tide (1882), the rich variety of brushstrokes, the use of various colors, the superposition of perspectival effects, and the presentation of natural scenes all reflect Impressionism's pursuit of the role of light and the characteristics of instantaneous scene recording. The natural scene is vague but expresses the strong emotion to viewers. We can see the magnificent sea and feel the cold atmosphere of the coast. But the distant sky, the people communicating on the shore, inject a warm life into the painting.

Monet's Late Works

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The Rocks at Pourville, Low Tide (1882) was considered as the part of Monet's art works in his improving stage. Regina Michelle Schreck-Gaskin highlights the psychological depth of Monet's 1880s works. She pointed out that Monet's late work was not only capturing landscapes and light but also adding personal symbolism, incorporating Monet's own experience in life and tourism. Schreck-Gaskin argues that Monet's paintings of the Normandy coast, beginning in the 1880s, reflected a conscious struggle to control time and nature through art, but this problem was solved in later 1890s series of works based on Monet’s discovery of a more abstract way of symbolism[7]. John House's New Monet Catalogue shows the impact of recent research and publications on the understanding of Monet's work. House notes that the publication of previously unpublished letters and documents sheds new light on Monet's artistic intentions and personal relationships, especially his emotional world. This had a profound influence on his work in the 1880s. This key material adds depth to the study of Monet's paintings of the Normandy coast by illustrating how his personal experiences influenced his evolving philosophy of art.[10] The stylistic evolution of Monet's later work echoes his personal struggles, particularly the emotional transition following the death of his first wife, and his complicated relationship with Alice Horschede, which are also reflected in the paintings of the 1880s, in which Monet sought to find a balance between landscape, people, and time.[3]

Read more

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Discover philosophical controversy and political argument at Impressionism.

Bibliography

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  1. ^ Herbert, Robert L. (1995). "Monet on The Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867-1886". The Art Book. 2 (1): 43. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8357.1995.tb00401.x. ISSN 1368-6267.
  2. ^ a b Clayson, Hollis; Tucker, Paul Hayes (1984). "Claude Monet at Argenteuil: 1871-1878". The Art Bulletin. 66 (2): 230–235. doi:10.2307/3050434. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3050434.
  3. ^ a b c Herbert, Robert L. (1995). "Monet on The Normandy Coast". The Art Book. 2 (1): 37. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8357.1995.tb00401.x. ISSN 1368-6267.
  4. ^ Clarke, Michael; Thomson, Richard (2003). Monet: the Seine and the sea, 1878-1883. Royal Scottish Academy. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland. ISBN 978-1-903278-44-4.
  5. ^ Daneo, Angelica, ed. (2019). Claude Monet: the truth of nature. Munich: Prestel. p. 200. ISBN 978-3-7913-5870-3.
  6. ^ Schreck-Gaskin, Regina (1999). "Claude Monet's Normandy Coast paintings: A link to the past and a bridge to the future, Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, . 1398650". Proquest. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  7. ^ a b Schreck-Gaskin, Regina (1999). "Claude Monet's Normandy Coast paintings: A link to the past and a bridge to the future, Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, . 1398650". Proquest. pp. 10–15, 40. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  8. ^ Herbert, Robert L. (1995). "Monet on The Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867-1886". The Art Book. 2 (1): 46. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8357.1995.tb00401.x. ISSN 1368-6267.
  9. ^ House, John (1978). "The New Monet Catalogue". The Burlington Magazine. 120 (907): 678–639. ISSN 0007-6287. JSTOR 879364.
  10. ^ a b John House. The New Monet Catalogue, The Burlington Magazine 120, no. 907 (1978). pp. 678–680.
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