The highly anticipated exhibition Impressionists by the Sea made its U.S. debut at The Phillips Collection on Oct. 20, 2007, and remained on view through Jan.13, 2008. Featuring seminal work by some of the most celebrated artists of the period—including Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Gustave Courbet—the exhibition showcased over 60 masterpieces drawn from major international collections. Impressionists by the Sea, organized by the Royal Academy in London, The Phillips Collection, and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, chronicled the dramatic transformation of the northern coast of France and explored the impact of the newly fashionable seaside on the quintessential painters of modern life.
Claude Monet, La Plage á Trouville, 1870, oil on canvas (53.5 x 65 cm), Wadsworth Atheneum
From the 1820s onward, the coast played a pivotal role in the development of impressionist painting as artists sought to illustrate the dramatic social and economic changes developing in these small fishing towns. During the summer months the coast saw its beaches, fishing villages, and modest ports transformed into an extension of modern urban life—the summer boulevard of Paris. Aided by the expansion of the railway and the emergence of organized leisure, tourists and artists alike quickly discovered this part of the world.
railway and the emergence of organized leisure, tourists and artists alike quickly discovered this part of the world.
Impressionists by the Sea was the first exhibition to examine the distinct social history that shaped the work of impressionist painters as they recorded the rise of tourism along the northern coast of France in the 19th century. The exhibition highlighted the range of subjects that captured the imagination of these artists—from simple studies of light flickering off the sea and sand to more finished paintings of Parisian tourists enjoying the beach and sea air or the everyday work of local fishermen.
The beach and the sea prompted new compositional strategies for the impressionists. For a group of artists so captivated by the quality of color and light, the sea off France’s northern coast offered endless possibilities. Artists recorded not only the allure of the sea and its changing moods but also the many fashionable people who traveled to the shore in search of an escape from city life.
“The story of French marine painting in the 19th century remains largely untold,” said Jay Gates, director of The Phillips Collection. “By exploring the burgeoning seaside resort, this exhibition highlights the impressionists’ great range and diversity of approaches to the coastal theme.”
Impressionists by the Sea charted the emergence of plein-air painting at the seaside, starting with the work of Eugène Isabey, Camille Corot, Johan Barthold Jongkind, and Eugène Boudin. Although indebted to Dutch 17th-century marine painting, these artists introduced new ways of conveying the effects of light and air that eventually influenced painters such as Monet, Manet, and Renoir. By the 1860s, with the development of seaside villas and hotels, artists began to depict the social panorama of top-hatted men and parasol-shaded women gathering along the shoreline.
The exhibition concluded with a look at beach scenes of the 1880s, in which the impressionists, most notably Monet, turned their backs on the depictions of people and used their new painting techniques to capture the effects of weather and light on the coastline. Monet continued to explore the sea as a powerful force of nature, and in his work the effects of weather and light attain unrivaled prominence. This poetic response to the sea, virtually devoid of human presence, stands in stark contrast to the paintings by his colleagues depicting the fashionable figures on holiday at the beach.
Eugène-Louis Boudin, La Plage de Trouville àl’heure du Bain (Beach near Trouville), 1864, (67.5 x 104 cm.), Oil on canvas, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
In addition to these masterpieces, a number of larger and more finished beach scenes by artists including James McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent provided the context within which the impressionists’ pictorial innovations were received in Paris. These works of art, created for acceptance by the official Salon, highlight the distinctive qualities of the impressionists’ aesthetic experiments and treatment of their newfound subject matter.
The exhibition was organized by The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.; the Royal Academy of Arts, London; and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Conn. It is curated by John House, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, Courtauld Institute; MaryAnne Stevens, acting secretary, Royal Academy of Arts; Eliza Rathbone, chief curator, The Phillips Collection; and Dr. Eric Zafran, curator of European paintings and sculpture, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. s.
Impressionists by the Seawas on view at the Royal Academy through Sept. 30. Following its close at the Phillips on Jan. 13, 2008, the exhibition was display at the Wadsworth Atheneum Feb. 9–May 11, 2008.
An accompanying catalogue includes an essay by Professor John House on the pictorial representation of the development of the French seaside during the 19th century, and an essay by Dr. David Hopkin of Hertford College, Oxford, on the economic relationship between traditional fishing industries and new recreational functions. The catalogue, also features detailed entries on each work.
Works Included In The Exhibition
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 – 1898)
Bathing time at Deauville L’Heure du bain à Deauville 1865 Oil on panel
National Gallery of Art, Washington. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 – 1898)
The Beach at Trouville La Plage à Trouville 1863 Oil on panel Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 – 1898)
The Beach at Trouville La Plage de Trouville 1863 Oil on wood panel The Phillips Collection, Acquired in 1923
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 – 1898)
The Beach at Trouville La Plage de Trouville 1865 Oil on canvas Princeton University Art Museum. Gift of the Estate of Laurence Hutton
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 - 1898)
The Coast at Concarneau Concarneau n.d. Graphite on wove paper National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Christian Humann Foundation
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 - 1898) Deauville 1893 Oil on canvas
Courtauld Institute Gallery, London The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 - 1898)
Etretat, the Porte d’Aval Étretat: la Porte d’Aval 1890 Oil on canvas
Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection On loan at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 - 1898)
Figures on the Beach Personnages au bord de la plage 1866 Watercolor on pencil Fenner and Ina Milton
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 - 1898)
Passengers on Shipboard En bateau n.d. Graphite on wove paper National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Christian Humann Foundation
Eugène-Louis Boudin (1824 - 1898)
Provincial Figures Personnages provinciaux n.d. Graphite on wove paper National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Christian Humann Foundation
Jules Breton (1827 – 1906)
A Spring by the Sea Une Source au bord de la mer 1866 Oil on canvas Private collection
Félix-Hilaire Buhot (1847 – 1898)
The Cliff: Saint-Malo Bay La Falaise: Baie de Saint-Malo 1886/90 Heliogravure, etching, drypoint, roulette, and spit bite on laid paper National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection
Félix-Hilaire Buhot (1847 – 1898)
Squall at Trouville Un Grain à Trouville 1874-1875 Etching and aquatint in black on wove paper National Gallery of Art, Washington, Helena Gunnarsson Buhot Collection
Gustave Caillebotte (1848 – 1894)
Villers-sur-mer
1880 Oil on canvas Private Collection
Children at the Seashore
1885 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Jean-Charles Cazin (1841 – 1901)
The Storm (Equihen, Pas-de-Calais) L’Orage (Equihen, Pas-de-Calais) c. 1876 Oil on canvas
Paris, Musée d’Orsay, Legs de Mme. Julia Bartet, 1942
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796 - 1875)
The Beach, Etretat Etretat, la plage 1872 Oil on canvas Saint Louis Art Museum
Gustave Courbet (1819 – 1877)
Calm Sea Mer calme 1866 Oil on canvas Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon National Gallery of Art, Washington. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Gustave Courbet (1819 – 1877)
Rough Sea near a Cliff Vue d’une mer agitée près d’une falaise c. 1865/66 Oil on canvas The Matthiesen Gallery, London
Gustave Courbet (1819 – 1877)
The Shore at Trouville: Sunset Effect La Plage de Trouville: Coucher de soleil c. 1865/69 Oil on canvas Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. Gift in honor of Helene and Mark Eisner, by exchange, with additional funds provided by The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund
Gustave Courbet (1819 – 1877)
The Waterspout La Trombe c. 1866 Oil on canvas Philadelphia Museum of Art. John G. Johnson Collection
Gustave Courbet (1819 – 1877)
The Wave La Vague c. 1869 Oil on canvas Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Museum purchase, Grover A. Magnin Bequest Fund and Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Income Fund
Charles-François Daubigny (1817 – 1878)
The Beach at Villerville known as Cap Gris-Nez c. 1870 Oil on panel
Berwick Borough Museum and Art Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed 4
Charles-François Daubigny (1817 - 1878)
The Beach at Villerville at Sunset Plage de Villerville soleil couchant 1873 Oil on canvas
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler Jr.
Jules Dupré (1811 – 1889)
Marine Landscape (The Cape and Dunes of Saint-Quentin) Paysage marin (Cap et dunes de Saint-Quentin) c. 1870 Oil on canvas
Musée des Beaux Arts de Rouen, Donation Henri et Suzanne Baderou, 1975
Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903)
The Beach, Dieppe La Plage, Dieppe 1885 Oil on canvas
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Guillemet (1843 – 1918)
The Cliffs of Puys at Low Tide Falaise de Puys à marée basse 1877 Oil on canvas
Château-Musée de Dieppe
Eugène Isabey (1803 - 1886)
The Beach at Granville La Plage de Granville 1863 Oil on canvas
Musée du Vieux-Château, Laval
Johan-Barthold-Jongkind (1819 - 1891)
Fécamp
1852 Oil on canvas Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund
Eugène Isabey (1803 – 1886)
Low Tide Marée basse 1861 Musée Malraux, Le Havre Dépot du Musée du Louvre, 1961
Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819 – 1891)
The Beach at Sainte-Adresse La Plage de Sainte-Adresse 1862 Oil on canvas
Courtesy of the Ivo Bouwman Gallery, The Hague
Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819 – 1891)
On the Beach at Sainte-Adresse Sur la plage de Sainte-Adresse 1862 Oil on canvas
Collection of Phoenix Art Museum. Mrs. Oliver B. James Bequest
Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819 - 1891)
The Sea at Etretat La Mer à Etretat 1853 Oil on canvas Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883)
Low Tide at Berck Marée basse à Berck 1873 Oil on canvas Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund
Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883)
On the Beach at Boulogne Sur la plage de Boulogne 1868 Oil on canvas
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883)
On the Beach: Suzanne and Eugène Manet at Berck Sur la plage: Suzanne et Eugène Manet à Berck 1873 Oil on canvas
Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Donation Jean-Edouard du Brujeaud sous réserve d’usufruit, 1953
Jean François Millet (1814 – 1875)
The Cliffs of Gréville Les Falaises de Gréville c. 1854 and 1870/71 Oil on canvas National Museum of Stockholm Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) A Stormy Sea Mer orageuse c. 1881 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Art, Ottawa. Purchased 1946
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Beach and Cliffs at Pourville, Morning Effect Plage et falaises de Pourville, effet du matin 1882 Oil on canvas
Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, Tokyo
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Beach at Sainte-Adresse La Plage à Sainte-Adresse 1867 Oil on canvas
The Art Institute of Chicago. Mr and Mrs Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Beach at Trouville La Plage à Trouville 1870 Oil on canvas
The National Gallery, London
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Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Beach at Trouville La Plage à Trouville 1870 Oil on canvas
Private collection, courtesy of Sotheby’s
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Beach at Trouville La Plage à Trouville 1870 Oil on canvas Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Boats on the Beach, Etretat Bateaux sur la plage d’Etretat 1885 Oil on canvas
The Art Institute of Chicago. Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Chemin de la Cavée, Pourville Le Chemin de la Cavée, Pourville 1882 Oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of Mrs. Susan Mason Loring
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Coast at Sainte-Adresse Bord de la mer à Sainte-Adresse 1864 Oil on canvas Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Bennett
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Cottage at Trouville, Low Tide La Cabane à Trouville, marée basse 1881 Oil on canvas
Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. On loan at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
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Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Etretat, Rough Sea Etretat, mer agitée 1883 Oil on canvas Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Path in the Wheatfields, Pourville Chemin dans les Blés Pourville 1882 Oil on canvas
Collection of Frederic C. Hamilton
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Regatta at Sainte-Adresse Régates à Sainte-Adresse 1867 Oil on canvas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Bequest of William Church Osborn, 1951 Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) Rocks at Low Tide Rochers à marée basse
1882 Oil on canvas Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, New York. Gift of Emily Sibley Watson
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
The Sea at Fécamp La Mer à Fécamp 1881 Oil on canvas Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Shadows on the Sea, Pourville Ombres sur la mer, Pourville 1882 Oil on canvas
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
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Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Sunset at Pourville Coucher du soleil à Pourville 1882 Oil on canvas Courtesy of The Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Val-Saint-Nicolas, near Dieppe (Morning)
1897 Oil on canvas The Phillips Collection, Acquired 1959
Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895)
At the Beach A la Plage 1885 Watercolor Private collection, Washington, DC
Léon Germain Pelouse (1838 – 1891)
Grandcamp, Low Tide Grandcamp, marée basse 1884 Oil on canvas
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Carcassonne
Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919)
By the Seashore Au bord de la mer 1883 Oil on canvas The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. H. O. Havemeyer Collection. Bequest of Mrs H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919)
Children on the Seashore, Guernsey Enfants au bord de la mer à Guernsey c. 1883 Oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of John T. Spaulding
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Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919)
Low Tide, Yport Marée basse, Yport 1883 Oil on canvas Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919)
Sea and Cliffs Mer et falaises c.1884/5 Oil on canvas The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925)
Oyster Gatherers of Cancale
1878 Oil on canvas Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund
Constant Troyon (1810 - 1865)
The Coast near Villers La Côte près de Villers c. 1860 Oil on canvas
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834 - 1903)
Alone with the Tide Seule 1861 Oil on canvas Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. In memory of William Arnold Healy, given by his daughter, Susie Healy Camp
James Abbott McNeil Whistler (1834 - 1903)
The Sea
c. 1865 Oil on canvas Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey. Museum purchase; Acquisition Fund
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834 - 1903)
Sea and Rain
1865 Oil on canvas The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker
