Return of the Fishing Boats, Étretat

1879

The village of Étretat, on France’s Normandy coast, is famous for its picturesque rock formations, which are visible in the background of Boldini’s painting. Rather than focusing on the cliffs, as many artists did, Boldini concentrated on the beach, where locals and elegantly dressed visitors have gathered by a fishing boat to assess the day’s catch. This meticulously detailed painting captures the mixed character of the village—part fishing community, part tourist destination.

Medium	oil on panel
Dimensions	5 1/2 × 9 7/16 in. (14 × 23.9 cm) Frame: 10 1/4 × 14 1/8 × 2 in. (26 × 35.9 × 5.1 cm)
Object Number	1955.647
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Giovanni Boldini, Return of the Fishing Boats, Étretat, 1879, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.647

Select Bibliography

Murphy, Alexandra. "Monet in Normandia e Bretagna." In Monet: I luoghi della pittura. Exhibition catalogue. Conegliano, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2001. Cunningham, Charles C., et al. The Elegant Academics: Chroniclers of 19th-Century Parisian Life. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: The Clark, 1974. Cass, David B. and John Wetenhall. Italian Paintings 1850-1910 from Collections in the Northeastern United States. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1982. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Herbert, Robert L. "Courbet's Lost Laundresses." Art in America 83 no. 2 (February 1995): 8085, 107. Dini, Piero and Francesca Dini. Catalogo Ragionato della Pittura a Olio con un'Ampia Selezione di Pastelli, Acquerelli e Disegni. Volume III of Giovanni Boldini, 18421931: Catalogo ragionato. Torino: Umberto Allemandi & C., 2002. Clarke, Michael and Richard Thomson. Monet: The Seine and The Sea 1878-1883. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 2003. Lees, Sarah. Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris. Exhibition catalogue. With contributions by Richard Kendall and Barbara Guidi. Ferrara, Italy: Ferrara Arte; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2009.
Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012. Doria, Bianca. Boldini: Catalogo Generale dei Disegni. Milan: Skira, 2000. Panconi, Tiziano. Giovanni Boldini: L'Opera Completa. Firenze: Edifir Edizioni Firenze, 2002.

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Provenance

J. J. Brown, The Woodlands, Reigate (his sale, Christie’s, London, 3 Apr. 1909, no. 4, as The Fish Auction, Etretat, sold to Wallis & Son; [Wallis & Son, London]; Morgan Wing, Tuxedo Park, New York, sold to Knoedler, 1929; [Knoedler, New York, sold to Clark, 30 Apr. 1929, as Return from Fishing]; Robert Sterling Clark (1929–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.