Étretat, Boats on the Beach – Claude Monet

Fishing boats on the shingle, beneath the famous cliffs. On the pebble beach of Étretat, fishing boats lie hauled up out of reach of the waves, their white and grey hulls catching the light. Out at sea, sails glide past, and on the right the chalk cliffs plunge into the water with their famous arch and needle. Monet paints it all in quick, broken strokes of blue, white, pink and ochre.

Claude Monet spent long stays at Étretat, on the Normandy coast, in 1883 and 1885. He painted the beach, the boats and the cliffs again and again, in every light and every weather, and in his letters confessed his frustration at never quite capturing the sea as he saw it.

Why it works on your wall

• Bright and airy: blues, whites and soft ochres for a living room, a bedroom or a seaside house
• A breath of sea air: the Normandy coast seen by the master of Impressionism
• Framing tip: a thin gold or natural wood frame suits its luminous palette

The painting

Claude Monet (1840–1926), founder of Impressionism, devoted his life to painting light and its changes. Before the water lilies of Giverny, the Normandy coast where he grew up, from Le Havre to Étretat, was one of his favourite subjects, and his views of the Porte d’Aval and the Needle are among the most famous seascapes in art.

• Artist: Claude Monet (1840–1926)
• Date: 1880s
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Movement: Impressionism
• Theme: Étretat, Normandy, boats, seascape

Your print

• Colours restored from a high-definition scan of the original
• Printed in Europe on thick archival matte paper, FSC certified
• From A4 to A0, plus 40×60, 50×70, 60×90 and 70×100 cm and 12×18 to 27×40 inch sizes, all made for standard frames
• Free shipping, no minimum order. Shipped rolled in a sturdy tube

Pair it with Monet’s The Magpie, or explore our classic painting prints and living room wall art.