Impressions of the Sea

Art of Impressionists emerged in France in the late 19th century. This style was characterized by loose brushstrokes, everyday subjects and the capturing of fleeting moments. Artists would spend time painting from the outdoors, dialing in on the effects of light and atmosphere using a vibrant and light color palette, tending to avoid black. Some of the most common impressionist painters include Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. All of whom painted alongside each other in the same studio at one point of their art careers.

While some of these artist’s subject matter ranged anywhere from nude portraits to bustling towns to landscapes, this collection of pieces focuses solely on their impressions of the sea. Many of these pieces are from the periods Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley spent painting the coasts of Normandy in France. But some are from other scenes along the English Channel. Notice how each of these artists depict light hitting their subject using a different color palette. Monet tends to use more vibrant, pastel colors, while Renoir moves towards a darker color palette and Sisley uses blues and greens most heavily in his palette. Focusing on these artists' depictions of similar subjects, we are able to see the differences in their painting styles while under the same movement of Impressionism. From each of these artists is a unique way to depict similar scenes using the same elements of an impressionistic style.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, View of the Seacoast near Wargemont in Normandy, 1880, Oil on canvas, 19 7/8 x 24 1/2 in. (50.5 x 62.2 cm), 56.135.7

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a French artist, completed the painting View of the Seacoast near Wargemont in Normandy in 1880 while he was a guest of Paul Berard in Normandy. This painting depicts a grassy bluff that meets the sea. Renoir uses sweeping brushstrokes to mimic the way wind moves through a scene. His brush strokes make the painting appear blurry at a close inspection, but as you observe his painting as a whole, it reveals a clear sense of light on grassy slopes and the expanse of sea.

Claude Monet, Falaise à Varengeville, 1882, Oil on canvas, 61 cm × 81 cm (24 in × 32 in)

Claude Monet, a French painter, completed this painting during one of his frequent visits to the Normandy coast. He depicts a jagged cliff edge along the coast taking in the full force of the sun. In the bottom right portion of the painting, he tucks in a cabin overlooking the powerful expanse of the sea. Perhaps hinting at the insignificance of man against the power and beauty of nature. Monet uses seemingly finer brushstrokes, dabbing more, creating independent spots of color, different from Renoir’s smoother rendition of the grassy, sea-side bluff.

Claude Monet, Cliff Walk at Pourville, 1882, Oil on canvas, 81.3 cm × 100.3 cm (32 in × 39.5 in)

Just as the title might suggest, this painting was meant to depict a walk along the cliff’s edge in Normandy. Monet completed this painting during the same trip he painted Falaise à Varengeville. He took this trip three years after his wife, Camille had died and was refreshed and enlivened by the sights around him. In one of his letters back home, he expresses the beauty and joy that his surroundings were becoming to him. Within this painting, Monet varies his brushstrokes to depict the different implied textures of the grass, waves and sky.

Alfred Sisley, Normandy, the water path, in the evening at Sahurs, 1894, Oil on canvas, 81.5 cm × 100.5 cm (32 × 39.5 in)

This piece, created by Alfred Sisley, was painted in 1894 in Normandy. Though later than all the other pieces in this curation, this painting still portrays the loose brushstrokes and playful depiction of light that often characterize a painting of the Impressionist movement. Sisley depicts a river that leads to the sea where Monet and Renoir have depicted coastal cliffs and grassy bluffs. His heavy use of blue hues and yellow-greens created a restricted and powerful color palette able to dial in on catching the light.

Claude Monet, The Manneporte (Etretat), 1883, Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 in. (65.4 x 81.3 cm)

Shortly after spending time looking out over the sea from the coastal cliffs, Monet spent most of February 1883 in a fishing village, Etretat, on the Normandy coast. Here he paints views of the immense rock formations in the area. In this painting, he depicts the color and luminosity of the rock during a particular time of day with the waves in the foreground under shadow. This use of light, in an impressionistic way, highlights the rock and makes it the central emphasis of the painting.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Seascape, 1879, Oil on canvas, 72.6 × 91.6 cm (28 1/2 × 36 in.)

During Renoir’s exploration of the Normandy coast, he completed this painting. Rather than favoring surface coherence or underlying infrastructure, Renoir exercises small, rapid, curling strokes that build in one direction and shift abruptly, almost like schools of fish as Roberta Smith from the New York Times articulates. This painting portrays the atmospheric feeling many Impressionists were trying to cultivate and communicate through their paintings. Renoir is allowing the viewer to form the scene with the colors and brushstrokes and atmospheric choices he makes.