Lot Essay
Monet's earliest views of the Normandy coast were painted in 1868 and 1883; however, the region of Etretat with its impressive cliffs and rock formations so appealed to him that he returned in 1885 and 1886. The ever-changing weather conditions of the region allowed him to capture the spectacular formations of the cliffs during all times of day. Throughout the nineteenth century artists such as Isabey, Delacroix, Diaz and Courbet, and later photographers had been attracted to this small fishing village located halfway between Le Havre and Dieppe. By the time Monet was working there, the cliffs were famous and Etretat had become a popular summer resort.
Monet chose to paint in the off season in order to avoid tourists. About seventy-five paintings of Etretat are recorded from the years 1883-1886, with fifty of them attributable to the fall and winter of 1885-1886, and only fourteen which depict the Porte d'Amont. Robert L. Herbert described the artist's output during this time,
"Monet was a prodigious worker...On 17 November and again on the 19th, for example, he spent the morning at La Passe, inland from the village center, the afternoon at the Manneport, and the early evening up on the flank of the Porte d'Amont. This meant several kilometers of hiking up and down steep inclines, although he probably paid someone to help him transport his material. On another day he worked at six different sites. At times he hired a boat to take him across the bay to the Trou l'homme, and around the tip of the Aval to the Cap d'Antifer, he probably also used a boat to reach the bay of the Manneporte" (R.L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast, New Haven, 1994, pp. 100-101).
Daniel Wildenstein has noted that the present work was "painted on a wardrobe door of the Aubourg inn (Hostellerie des Vieux Plats) at Gonneville-la-Mallet, about ten kilometers south of Etretat where Monet stayed on 7 December 1885. The twisted shaped upper and lower parts of the panel have been removed" (D. Wildenstein, op. cit., 1996, p. 394).
Monet chose to paint in the off season in order to avoid tourists. About seventy-five paintings of Etretat are recorded from the years 1883-1886, with fifty of them attributable to the fall and winter of 1885-1886, and only fourteen which depict the Porte d'Amont. Robert L. Herbert described the artist's output during this time,
"Monet was a prodigious worker...On 17 November and again on the 19th, for example, he spent the morning at La Passe, inland from the village center, the afternoon at the Manneport, and the early evening up on the flank of the Porte d'Amont. This meant several kilometers of hiking up and down steep inclines, although he probably paid someone to help him transport his material. On another day he worked at six different sites. At times he hired a boat to take him across the bay to the Trou l'homme, and around the tip of the Aval to the Cap d'Antifer, he probably also used a boat to reach the bay of the Manneporte" (R.L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast, New Haven, 1994, pp. 100-101).
Daniel Wildenstein has noted that the present work was "painted on a wardrobe door of the Aubourg inn (Hostellerie des Vieux Plats) at Gonneville-la-Mallet, about ten kilometers south of Etretat where Monet stayed on 7 December 1885. The twisted shaped upper and lower parts of the panel have been removed" (D. Wildenstein, op. cit., 1996, p. 394).