Invoice from Durand-Ruel, Inc., New York, to Robert Sterling Clark for the purchase of two paintings. Dated 30 October 1933.
Claude Monet
French, 1840–1926
The Cliffs at Étretat
1885
Between October and December 1885, Monet made nearly fifty paintings of the Normandy coast. This work shows the Porte d’Aval, a naturally formed arch, and a freestanding needle-like rock that attracted tourists and artists alike to the town of Étretat. Monet painted this view of the cliffs from an unusual location, accessible only by boat or via a precipitous path. The writer Guy de Maupassant described how the artist “watched the sun and the shadows, capturing in a few brushstrokes a falling ray of light or a passing cloud.”
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 25 5/8 x 32 in. (65.1 x 81.3 cm) Frame: 37 1/2 x 43 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. (95.3 x 110.5 x 9.5 cm) |
| Object Number | 1955.528 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Claude Monet, The Cliffs at Étretat, 1885, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.528
Select Bibliography
Murphy, Alexandra. "Monet in Normandia e Bretagna." In Monet: I luoghi della pittura. Exhibition catalogue. Conegliano, Italy: Linea d'ombra Libri, 2001.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Five: French Paintings of the 19th Century. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1956.
Wildenstein & Company. An Exhibition of Treasures from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts: Paintings, drawings & rare silver, for the benefit of the Committee to Rescue Italian Art, inc. (CRIA). Exhibition catalogue. New York: Wildenstein & Company, 1967.
Brooks, John H. Monet in Massachusetts. Exhibition brochure. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1985.
Elvehjem Museum, University of Wisconsin, Madison.. Picture of the Month. April 4-May 4, 1987. No catalogue.. 1987..
Harris, Jean C., Steve Kern, and Bill Stern. Lasting Impressions: French and American Impressionism from New England Museums. Exhibition catalogue. Springfield, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1988.
The Chunichi Shimbun.. Claude Monet Exhibition. Nagoya City Art Museum; Bridgestone Museum of Art; Hiroshima Museum of Art. Feb.-July 1994.
Vienna: Osterreichische Galerie. Claude Monet, March 14- June 16, 1996 (Cat. by Stephan Koja). Prestel Verlag. 1996.
Greenberg, Clement. "The Later Monet." Art News Annual 26 (1957).
William C. Seitz.. Claude Monet.. New York: Abrams.. 1960..
Nina Kasanof.. "Monet and Etretat.". 7:4.. North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin.. May 1968..
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.
Luigina Rossi Bortolatto.. L'Opera Completa di Claude Monet.. Milan: Rizzoli.. 1972..
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.
Pierre Courthion.. Impressionism.. New York: Abrams.. 1972..
Robin Ironside.. "The Artistic Vision of Proust.". 101:157.. Apollo.. March 1975..
Barbara Ehrlich White, ed.. Impressionism in Perspective.. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.. 1978..
Brian Petrie.. Monet: The First of the Impressionists.. Oxford: Phaidon.. 1979..
Mabuchi, Akiko. Claude Monet. The Great Masters of Modern Art, vol. 7. Tokyo: Kodansha. 1980.
Brooks, John H. Highlights: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1981.
Forge, Andrew and Robert Gordon. Monet. New York: Abrams. 1983.
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.
Charles F. Stuckey, ec.. Monet: A Retrospective.. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin/Scribner.. c. 1985..
Madison: The Elvehjem Museum of Art.. Artscene.. vol. 3, no. 2.. (March/April 1987)..
Michael Howard.. Monet.. London: Bison Books.. 1989..
Richard Kendall, ed.. Monet by Himself: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels, Letters.. London: Macdonald Orbis.. 1989..
Bernard Myers.. Methods of the Masters: Monet.. London: Brian Todd Publishing.. 1990..
Charles F. Stuckey.. French Painting.. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin/Macmillan.. 1991..
Denise Delouche.. Monet à Belle-Ile.. Le Chasse-Marée/ArMen.. 1992..
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Robert L. Herbert.. Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867-1886.. London: Yale University Press.. 1994.. Paul Tucker.. Claude Monet: Life and Art.. London: Yale University Press.. 1995.. Kodansha, Ltd.. La Muse: Monet.. 1995.. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Kern, Steven, et al. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect, 19161951. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1996 Anonymous. "Nineteenth-Century Painting and Sculpture." The Magazine Antiques 152 (October 1997): 522–31. Norio Shimada and Keiko Sakagami.. Claude Monet, Vol. 2.. Japan Educational Center for Art.. 2001.. Daniel Wildenstein. Monet: Catalogue Raisonné, 4 vols. (in English, French, German).. Wildenstein Institute and Paris: Taschen France and Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag.. 1996. Brettel, Richard et al. Monet and Normandy. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2006. Ganz, James and Richard Kendall. The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. Royal Academy, London, March 17- June 10, 2007; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, June 24- September 16, 2007. 2007. Monet 2003 Large Engagement Calender. te Neues Publlishing Company. 2002:week 42. Schools Museums ART Project (SMART Project). Madison Metropolitan School District. 2002:p. 173. Delouche, Denis. Monet à Belle-Île. France: Éditions Palantines. 2006. Fowle, Frances, ed. Monet and French Landscapes: Vétheuil and Normandy. National Galleries of scotland in association with the Visual Arts research Institute, Edinburgh. 2006. Stuckey, Charles. Claude Monet 1840-1926. Exhibition catalogue. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago; London: Thames & Hudson, 1995. 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. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011.
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Robert L. Herbert.. Monet on the Normandy Coast: Tourism and Painting, 1867-1886.. London: Yale University Press.. 1994.. Paul Tucker.. Claude Monet: Life and Art.. London: Yale University Press.. 1995.. Kodansha, Ltd.. La Muse: Monet.. 1995.. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Kern, Steven, et al. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect, 19161951. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1996 Anonymous. "Nineteenth-Century Painting and Sculpture." The Magazine Antiques 152 (October 1997): 522–31. Norio Shimada and Keiko Sakagami.. Claude Monet, Vol. 2.. Japan Educational Center for Art.. 2001.. Daniel Wildenstein. Monet: Catalogue Raisonné, 4 vols. (in English, French, German).. Wildenstein Institute and Paris: Taschen France and Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag.. 1996. Brettel, Richard et al. Monet and Normandy. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2006. Ganz, James and Richard Kendall. The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings. Royal Academy, London, March 17- June 10, 2007; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, June 24- September 16, 2007. 2007. Monet 2003 Large Engagement Calender. te Neues Publlishing Company. 2002:week 42. Schools Museums ART Project (SMART Project). Madison Metropolitan School District. 2002:p. 173. Delouche, Denis. Monet à Belle-Île. France: Éditions Palantines. 2006. Fowle, Frances, ed. Monet and French Landscapes: Vétheuil and Normandy. National Galleries of scotland in association with the Visual Arts research Institute, Edinburgh. 2006. Stuckey, Charles. Claude Monet 1840-1926. Exhibition catalogue. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago; London: Thames & Hudson, 1995. 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. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011.
EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY
Provenance
The artist, sold to Sutton; James F. Sutton, New York (d. 1915); Mrs. James F. Sutton, New York, by descent (1915–33, sale, American Art Association, New York, 26 Oct. 1933, no. 60, ill., as Les Falaises d’Etretat, Normandie, sold to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, New York, sold to Clark, 30 Oct. 1933]; Robert Sterling Clark (1933–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.
